Adjustments
by Some1tookmyname
Summary: There is no way a new relationship and a pregnancy can be smooth sailing for Booth and Brennan. Read as they learn to make concessions, compromises and adjustments.
1. Chapter 1

_So Hart Hanson and Co have left plenty of things unseen between The Hole in the Heart and The Change in the Game. I don't know what that means for next season, but I'm afraid it means we won't get to see the initial struggles they face adjusting to the shift in their relationship and a baby on the way. So I'm writing my own. Some days, I like fanfic better than the stuff on TV anyway. (season 6 was largely yuck-o) That said, they still aren't mine, no matter how much I pretend._

_This might be a one shot. It might not be. We shall see. _

_Thanks for all your reviews, alerts, etc on my last one shot, "Evolution." I will respond to all your comments, but I had to get this out there first. It was tap dancing on my brain and leaving me unfocused on everything else._

**Adjustments**

She stormed into his office, eyes blazing, arms waving, words failing her.

Booth knew that look.

She slammed the door.

Fury. It was pure fury.

He pitied the person on the receiving end of it. He or she didn't stand a chance when she was this pissed off.

He'd wait. There was nothing to say when she was like this. There never had been and now? Well, first trimester hormones certainly didn't help. He'd have to wait until he knew who had crossed her and what had happened before he spoke. If he didn't he might just say the wrong thing and even when he did have all the information, there was a good chance he would say the wrong thing anyway.

"I…totally absurd…ridiculous…" she spat out.

He was still clueless. He kept his eyes on her, watching her pace, and continued to wait.

Finally, she pulled an envelope out of her bag and threw it on his desk, glaring at him.

It was addressed to her at the Jeffersonian. From the FBI.

Oh.

Knowing what it probably said, but not wanting her to know that he knew, he went ahead and opened it, reading the first lines out loud.

"Dr. Brennan," he began. He sounded nervous to his own ears, so he cleared his throat before he continued. "It has come to the attention of our offices that you currently have a medical issue that disallows you from field work, per FBI policy as outlined in the FBI employee handbook part 8, section 12, article 7. As such, your participation in cases will now be confined to laboratory work only. All field work will be handled by your partner, Special Agent Seely Booth, and an agent who will be assigned to him until your medical condition is addressed and you have been cleared to return to the full description of your duties." He looked up and she was staring at him.

"How they hell do they know, Booth? What did you do?"

Ah. She was furious at him. Freakin' perfect.

"Bones…."

"I'm not showing and I've told NO ONE!" She wasn't calming down like he'd hoped.

"Bones…"

"No! NO! Don't try to placate me. I want to know what you did. How could you do this, Booth? Did you go straight to Cullen or did you just shoot an email to human resources?" She stood across from him, both hands on his desk, leaning forward onto her arms.

"I didn't" he promised.

"Obviously, you did." Her voice was cold.

He could tell that she wasn't going to believe him. He thought perhaps a different tack would be best.

"Bones, listen to me." He stood and put a hand on her arm. "This doesn't mean we aren't partners, okay? It just means they know you're pregnant. It's policy and you can't blame them for that. They are looking out for the best interest of their employee and the employee's baby. "

"I am NOT an FBI employee. I work for the Jeffersonian."

"Come on, Bones, you know you are contracted out to the FBI and it's a liability issue for them."

She wasn't yelling anymore. That was something.

"Mostly I just go to the crime scenes." She was still angry, though. Petulant, even.

"I know."

"I haven't done the math but I would estimate that ninety-five percent of what we do isn't even dangerous." Now she was just bitter.

"That's probably true. But you never know when that will change. That's part of what makes it dangerous. They can't have you taking that risk. Hell, Bones, I don't want you taking that risk." He spoke gently, but he told the truth. He didn't want her in the field anymore either.

She sat, tired from her outburst, drained now that the indignation and fury had left her.

"I would never purposely put our child at risk, Booth."

"I know that, Bones."

She was quiet for a while, clearly thinking.

He filled the air. "At least we're not being hauled in for a talking to about getting new partners. That means Sweets didn't tell them it's _our_ baby or he convinced them it doesn't matter."

Her eyes reignited.

Oops.

"You've been talking to Sweets?" Her voice was low.

"Well…" There was no point in being vague now. "Yeah."

"You told me we should keep it quiet for a while. That it was between us for now. I haven't even told Angela and you told _Sweets_?" She was incredulous.

"It's not what you're thinking, Bones."

"I'm thinking that you couldn't keep it to yourself, so you told your friend while I have to keep mine in the dark!"

"No. No. I didn't tell him as my friend." He knew as soon as he said it that it was only going to make things worse, not better.

She froze, understanding crossing her face. And there was something in her eyes he couldn't name, but it hit him in his gut.

"You've been going to therapy."

He nodded.

"You've been talking to Sweets… about me?"

He didn't answer.

"About us?"

"Bones, listen, it's not…"

"I don't need an explanation. It's fine. I understand."

But he could tell that she didn't. He hadn't mentioned it because he hadn't relished trying to explain it to her. He realized now that had been a colossal mistake.

She took the letter back off his desk and put it in her bag.

"I can't make lunch. I have a Civil War soldier I have to identify." She wouldn't look at him.

"Bones, come on, don't do that."

"I'm not doing anything but my job. It's the only job I have at the moment, so I'd prefer just to focus on that."

He wasn't going to win this round. That much was clear.

"See you tonight?" He sounded more desperate than he'd meant to.

"Probably not."

Crap.

"Bones…"

"Bye, Booth. I'll….I'll call you." She spun on her heel, opened the door and walked out.

It was only then he put a name to that look he'd seen in her eyes.

Betrayal.

_Shall I continue? Let me know!_


	2. Chapter 2

_Thank you all so much for all the sweet reviews and encouragement, through your comments and alerts. I'm very flattered and also a bit nervous now that I have some serious expectations to live up to. I hope you like this._

**Adjustments-Chapter 2**

He heard the key turn in the lock and sent up a silent "thank you" to the heavens. If she was there, she couldn't be too angry.

It was late, after midnight. She had chosen not to go home, but to come to his place. That had to be a good sign.

He had fallen asleep lying on the couch in front of a now long over hockey game. If he was honest with himself he would admit that he didn't want to be in bed without her. Not when the reason she wasn't there was that she was angry with him.

Things sure had changed in just eight short weeks.

He heard her put her bag down and slide off her shoes. She didn't turn on any lights, letting the flickering pictures on the muted TV guide her movements. He heard the rustle of her coat being taken off, then hung up. He heard her pad into the kitchen softly and open the refrigerator.

"You got Thai." Her voice startled him out of his study of her movements.

"How do you know I'm not sleeping?"

"Breathing patterns." She said simply. He couldn't see her, but he imagined that she shrugged when she said it.

She busied herself in the kitchen, getting some food. He guessed she hadn't eaten dinner and was really only eating now because it was better for the baby. He listened as she pulled out the take-out containers, retrieved a plate from the cabinet and began to scoop out her meal.

He was trying to decide what to say next. The air between them was not uncomfortable, but there was the tangible sense that something was wrong and needed to be fixed. Any other woman in his past and Booth might have waited for the incident to blow over on it's own or he would have made a joke to help ease the tension.

But this was Bones and that wasn't going to work. It wouldn't be the right way to go about things.

She put the plate in the microwave, pushing the buttons to start warming the food. She started toward the couch where he sat and he thought maybe she was going to join him, but she walked past him to the bedroom instead.

He'd wait. She had food cooking. She'd be coming back his way.

He heard a drawer open and shut, heard the lid of the hamper close and then she went into the bathroom. He heard the medicine cabinet click open and then closed. When the water ran he knew she was washing her face.

It all meant she was planning on staying.

In an odd way, he was proud of her. The old Bones wouldn't have shown up. She would have gone home and stayed angry. Or worse, she would never have left the lab, ignoring her anger and hyper focusing on some ancient skeleton.

But she hadn't done that. She'd come home to him. The least he could do was meet her halfway.

The microwave pinged angrily, reminding the apartment's occupants that it's job was finished and as she walked by him, clad in yoga pants and a t-shirt to go get her plate, he sat up and made his peace offering.

"Come sit." It was soft, semi pleading, gentle. He reached for her hand. "Please, Bones. Just, just sit with me a minute."

She didn't take his hand, but she did sit. A small victory for him, likely a huge concession for her. Once again he felt strangely proud of her.

"I'm…"

"I'm sorry." She sputtered out, cutting him off.

"It's okay. You had a right to be angry. I shouldn't have kept that from you."

"Not about that. I'm not sorry about that. I'm still angry." She kept her eyes straight ahead.

"Oh. Okay, well... what are you sorry for, then?" He was confused.

She took a deep breath and he could see she was struggling with what to say next. She tilted her head just a bit to the side, the way she always did when she was about to say something that was incredibly difficult for her.

"I'm sorry that being in a relationship with me is so hard that it sends you to therapy. I'm sorry I'm so difficult."

His stomach clenched as his heart dropped into it. He should have known she would take it personally, place the blame on herself. He opened his mouth to protest, but she went on.

"I know I'm not good at this. I'm trying, Booth, but I didn't realize….."

"No. No, no, no, no, no, no, Bones." He grabbed her hand and they were both reminded of a similar moment not so long ago. "Stop. Stop right there." It was a command issued kindly. "My therapy with Sweets is not about you. Not really. It's about me."

"I don't know what that means."

He hadn't told her because he hadn't known how to explain it. Now he was out of time to figure it out. He suddenly felt like everything hinged on making her understand.

"My father…" he sighed. "…he beat me. Jared too, sometimes, but mostly me. I would interfere when he started in on Jared and get him pissed off enough to take it out on me instead."

She looked at him now, and squeezed his hand. Encouragement. So he continued.

"But before he spent all his time drinking and beating on his kids, he would take his problems out on his wife." He swallowed. "My mom wasn't strong, Bones. She tried to make him happy, to do all the right things, but it wasn't ever enough. At first it was just after Jared and I were in bed. We'd hear him yell, we'd hear her cry, hear things getting knocked over, hear her beg. We could hear him hit her….but after a while it happened all the time. As soon as he was unhappy he would just…just…hit her, wherever and whenever he felt like it, sometimes over and over and over. And we watched. We watched and did nothing. "

"You were just a little boy, Booth." The pain on her face for the small brothers Booth of so long ago told him once again that her heart was so much bigger than anyone really knew. He went on.

"Then she got sick. Cancer. The doctors said two months." The tears were forming in his eyes. "She made it two weeks before she just couldn't fight anymore. I was nine."

Her eyes were no less teary than his.

"That's when he started drinking all the time and started beating his kids. It went on for 2 years before he left and Pops took us in."

He was silent for a moment and she sat silently with him, still holding his hand.

"I would never hurt you, Bones." His voice was thick.

"I know that, Booth. You are not anything like your father." She reassured him, squeezed his hand again.

"No, I'm not. And you are not anything like my mother."

"I still don't understand how this relates to sessions with Sweets" she confessed. She felt like she was missing something. She didn't like to miss things.

"Sweets says that I go out of my way to choose partners who are, in essence, the very opposite of my mother in many ways, but that I then want them to fit in an ideal mold that I've created out of the good things I remember about her."

She blinked, taking his words in, and he could see she was processing, but he knew he was being unclear.

"Alright, like, like Rebecca. When we were together, she was strong, independent, smart. She didn't _need_ me and I liked that. But then, I wanted her to need me. I wanted her to marry me and have the house in the suburbs and the 2 kids and the parent teacher conferences and the neighborhood barbeques. I had stupid visions of a life that had nothing to do with who she really was or what she really wanted, because she really didn't want _any_ of those things. I tried to push my agenda on her and it wasn't fair and instead of getting anything I thought I wanted, it all blew up in my face."

Brennan nodded slowly and he thought just maybe it was beginning to make sense to her a little.

"My mom had dinner on the table every night at 5:30. Everything was delicious. She made us cookies and brownies after school. She went on school trips, she sat on the PTA. She wrote jingles and she was always singing. That was a good life. And then my father would come home and wreck it. I've gone out of my way to not be like him."

"So, Sweets is suggesting that you are initially attracted to the opposite of your mother, because…"

"The opposite of my mother is not someone my father would ever have chosen. So that's what I want because I am not him. I like strong women. But then I try to pigeonhole those women into becoming all the things I remember about my mother except for her biggest flaw."

"Her weakness."

"Yes."

"But, I won't have dinner on the table at 5:30. I won't be on the PTA or sing in the kitchen."

"No."

"And that's what you want."

"No. No! It's…." he sighed deeply. "I want you, Bones. The way I've always known you. Brilliant, self reliant, career minded, stubborn, caring, gorgeous, sexy you. Just the way you are. You don't need to change. _I _need to change. I need to take my mother down off the pedestal I've got her on and understand that she wasn't an ideal. She was a person. She wasn't perfect and how I remember her, while it's nice, it isn't what I really want because it's not what I'm attracted to in the first place. If you did start singing and baking cookies everything would go to hell because that's not you and what I want is who you are. I need to get over the imaginary ideal life in my head."

"So, these sessions with Sweets…" she trailed off, not really sure how to finish the sentence.

"I'm learning not to screw this up, Bones. What we have is so good. It's great. It makes me unbelievably happy. I'm learning to let the past go so I can have the future with you."

"You can't know what the future holds. It's a scientific impossibility." Squint speak. Rationalization. Her own coping mechanisms against fear.

"True. But that doesn't mean I can't work my hardest to put the strongest foundation in place for the future. I will not be the one who screws this up on the ground floor. If it gets screwed up, we'll screw it up together along the way."

She nodded. "I accept your logic." He relaxed a little. But then:

"That still doesn't explain why Sweets knows I'm pregnant and why the FBI was informed of my pregnancy."

"I told Sweets about the baby."

"Why? It has nothing to do with your mother." She bristled. Not all was forgiven. Not yet.

"No, but for years I've pegged myself as a traditional family guy, a good Catholic who wanted that picket fenced house with a minivan in the garage."

"A minivan?"

"That might have been negotiable." He smiled. "But instead of what I thought I was, I'm having a second baby with a different woman than kid number one and not a marriage in sight. It's…a church thing, I guess."

"You feel guilty."

"Yeah, but then I feel guilty for feeling guilty. I wouldn't trade Parker for anything. Or you or our baby. Rebecca and I would never have made it even if I hadn't pushed her away. I have everything I could ever want now, really. It's just not how I thought I'd get it or how I thought it would be. I need to get over the 'supposed to be' thing and just enjoy what is. I'm going for a different outcome this time. Does that make sense?"

"No, but I don't subscribe to religion or religious guilt, so I'm not sure I'm capable of fully understanding it."

"I've just got a lot of things I'm trying to figure out. And when you go to therapy, you have to lay it all out for the shrink, or he can't really help. So I told Sweets about the baby."

"And he told the FBI." She was still unhappy about that.

"Yeah, but I knew he would. Even before the baby, even before we were together like we are now, there were days, cases, when I wanted to lock you in the lab to keep you safe. But now…God, just the thought of you getting hurt or of losing one or both of you is just not something I can handle. It would kill me, Bones. So I was okay with them yanking you from the field."

"You should have talked to me. You should have told me how you felt. You should have told me that was coming. It's very rational, of course, to keep me in the lab, but I was blindsided by that letter. It would have been better if you had told me."

"I should have. I screwed up. I'll try not to do it again."

She leaned into him, and he put his arm around her, settling her against his chest. They were quiet for a long time until she said;

"Perhaps, if you think it would help, I could go to therapy with you."

He was stunned. "But….but you hate psychology."

"It's a soft science."

"And you hate it."

"Yes. But I care about you. And about us. So if you want me to go, I will go. For you."

He whispered, trying not to choke on his own emotions, "Thank you, Bones. That means a lot." He buried his nose in her hair, smelling her shampoo. "You are better at this than you think."

"I do have a very steep learning curve."

"Yes, you do."

"And I have a very good teacher." She took her hand off his chest and wrapped it around him for a hug.

He kissed her head. "Go eat. The baby is hungry."

"It doesn't work like that, Booth."

"Humor me."

The world had righted itself once again.

_Reviews make my day. Thank you for reading._


	3. Chapter 3

_Thank you all so much for the reviews and alerts. I feel very honored._

_So what is this story? It's not really a collection of one shots. It's more of a glimpse into their lives. Some things will come back around in other chapters, some will be more one-shot-ish. I'm just kind of writing as things occur to me. As a whole, it's going to be about concessions and compromises and adjustments our dynamic duo is going to face in the first stages of their relationship and pregnancy. _

_I promise you that we will get back to the therapy thing. And did you notice that Booth totally neglected to mention what the heck Hannah was all about? And that Brennan let him? Yeah, that's not going to fly, is it? _

_But that's not this installment. This one is fluff. A fluffy break. But there is something to be learned here…something that will resurface later._

_I hope you like it._

**Adjustments-Chapter 3**

"Bones? What are you doing in there? I'm going to be late." He knew what she was doing in the bathroom. Or at least he had a pretty good idea since she'd bolted from the breakfast table with her hand over her mouth.

"Nothing. I'm…" she swallowed and took a deep breath. "…nothing."

"Are you okay?" She'd locked the door. He couldn't get in. At least, not without picking the lock or breaking down the door, either of which she'd kill him for.

"Yes."

"Bones…just let it happen."

"I'm not vomiting." She rested her head against the cool bathtub.

"Bones…"

"I'm fine, Booth."

"Okay. If you say so. Are you coming out soon? Because I've got a meeting and I have to leave like, now, if I'm going to make it."

"Just go. I'm fine."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes."

"I'll come get you at the lab for lunch. We'll go to the diner."

"Please, don't talk about food."

"Right. Sorry. Around 12:30, okay?"

"Yes."

"You sure you're all right?"

"Booth! Don't hover!" She needed to concentrate on not being sick. She couldn't talk with him, ease his mind and concentrate on herself.

"Okay. I'm going. Just…take it easy, Bones."

She didn't answer.

"Bones?"

Still nothing.

He leaned in, put his ear to the door. He couldn't hear anything.

"BONES!"

She threw the door open with such force he nearly fell into the bathroom.

"Why didn't you say anything?"

She glared at him.

"What?"

She just kept glaring.

"You're not talking to me now?"

She shuddered and turned back her previous position, on the floor, in front of the toilet, still not vomiting.

"What did I do?"

With clenched teeth she answered. "I can't talk. I'll be sick."

"Oh." He paused shifting uncomfortably. "Is it still okay if I go?"

She nodded, still willing the nausea and Booth away.

He left the bathroom, closing the door behind him. He put on his suit jacket and his coat, retrieved his gun from it's safe and briefly considered going back to say goodbye.

Then he remembered he'd like to live to see the birth of their child and went out the front door instead.

She heard the click and the ensuing silence and let out a shaky breath. It was so hard to suddenly NOT be alone all the time. Booth had been by her side for years, but not like this. She appreciated his concern, she really, really did, but sometimes he drove her crazy. Couldn't she just suffer her morning sickness with a modicum of dignity and privacy?

Her stomach flipped and she pressed her tongue to the roof of her mouth just trying to keep from being sick.

She loved him. Of that she was certain, even though she had yet to admit it out loud. But to share everything, all the time was overwhelming. And his constant concern with her eating and sleeping and morning sickness was over the top. She knew that he'd never had the chance to revel in Rebecca's pregnancy with Parker. She didn't want to deprive him of that now. But he had to give her some space or she would lose her mind.

Her stomach churned and she screwed her eyes shut, trying to will this new wave of nausea away.

Temperance Brennan never failed. It simply wasn't in her nature.

Until she fought morning sickness. It was a battle she couldn't win.

When she was finished emptying the contents of her stomach she stood slowly, her legs weak, her stomach still uncertain.

She turned to find Booth standing there, with a cup of water and a damp cloth.

"I put my meeting off," he said simply, offering her the cup to rinse her mouth.

She took it and drank, swirling it around in her mouth and spitting it into the sink. Then he gave her the washcloth and she wiped her face.

Sometimes, most times, not being alone was quite nice.

"Thank you, Booth." She meant it.

He kissed her forehead. "That's what I'm here for, Bones."

_Please leave a review. They keep me writing..._


	4. Chapter 4

_Thanks again to those of you who took the time to read . A special thanks to those who added this to their alerts and lots of love to those of you who left me reviews, especially those of you who have kindly reviewed each chapter. Your encouragement is much appreciated._

**Adjustments-Chapter 4**

She picked at imaginary lint on her skirt and turned over in her mind one more time whether or not this was a good idea. Did she really want to let Sweets direct their relationship? They were, in her opinion, doing quite well.

She sighed. She was no expert. Maybe they weren't doing well. Or maybe they could do better.

"You okay, Bones?"

"I'm just not sure if Sweets is who we should be talking to. He has misdirected us in the past."

"But he knows us best."

"My understanding is that that's not necessarily the best thing for therapy."

"You don't have to do this."

"No, no. It's fine." She smiled reassuringly. "If I didn't want to be here, I wouldn't be."

"I know you wouldn't." He returned her smile.

"You two ready?" Dr. Sweets opened his office door to the waiting area to retrieve his next session.

Brennan studied Sweets as they all settled in their chairs. She was fairly certain he looked at least as nervous than she felt. Booth, on the other hand, seemed fairly calm.

"So let's begin by talking a little bit about what brings you both here today. I've been meeting with Agent Booth, but I was quite surprised when he mentioned your willingness to join our sessions."

"Session." She corrected. "I agreed to one session."

"And then we'll see," interjected Booth. "Right Bones?"

"Yes. We'll see."

"Fine. So, while I do have you here, Dr. Brennan, why did you agree to come?"

"It's important to Booth."

"But you offered." Sweets had been surprised when Booth had told him she had volunteered to join him in therapy.

"I still don't care much for psychology, but Booth seems to feel that sessions with you are helpful to him. Therefore, I am willing to attend a session as well to see if he is correct."

"To see if they can help both us." added Booth.

"Although, " she looked at her partner "I feel that we are doing quite well."

"Me too." He smiled that smile that made her heart beat faster.

"Excellent. Then these sessions will only serve to enhance your relationship and improve on your foundation. I'd like to talk a little bit about your transition from work partners to a sexual relationship."

Sweets stared at them both, yet neither took the bait. He tried again.

"Agent Booth, you told me in the past that Vincent's death was the catalyst for you and Dr. Brennan moving out of the friend zone and into the romantic zone."

"Yeah."

"That you were comforting Dr. Brennan and one thing lead to another and you had sexual relations that night."

"Actually…it was early the next morning." Brennan corrected. "But I don't know what that has to do with how we are doing now."

"Relationships that develop as a result of intense situations are often more difficult to maintain in the long run, because that initial reason for connection doesn't hold up."

"Yeah, but Bones and I, we've been together for a long time. Partners first, then friends. I don't think Vincent's death is the big reason we got together."

"I agree." Brennan really, really wanted to talk about something else. This dwelling on that first night made her uneasy.

"True, but it was the spark that set you off."

"I would say that's right." Booth agreed.

"You would?" Brennan was surprised.

"But you wouldn't, Dr. Brennan?"

"I…" she paused, trying to gauge just how much she was willing to really share with the young psychologist. "I suppose the discussion and comfort I sought from Booth put us in the physical proximity for our relationship to begin, but I do not think that was the catalyst to our current relationship."

"You don't?" Booth was stunned.

"No."

"What do you think kick started your willingness to enter into a sexual relationship with Agent Booth?"

Brennan opened her mouth to respond but Booth cut her off.

"You know, Sweets, I need you to stop referring to what Bones and I have going as a 'sexual relationship.' You make it sound…less."

"Less than what, Agent Booth?"

"Less than important. Less than real"

"And it's important and real to you."

"Well, yeah."

"As well as to you, Dr. Brennan."

"I'm here, aren't I?"

"Fine. Let me rephrase. Dr. Brennan, if Vincent's death wasn't the catalyst for your relationship, what was?"

She stole a sideways glance at Booth. He was staring at her with rapt attention and she quickly weighed the pros and cons of saying what she really thought got them to where they were now. She just wasn't sure Sweets could be trusted. He had steered them so, so wrong in the past, misjudged them badly. But Booth trusted him and this was important to Booth. Booth said honesty was the key to really getting help.

She took a deep breath and made her decision.

"Hannah. In my opinion, Hannah was the catalyst that brought us together."

_Reviews please. Thank you for reading!_


	5. Chapter 5

_Thanks for all your alerts and reviews. I'm in awe of how many notifications are landing in my inbox. You guys rock!_

_Now, I feel like Brennan is being pretty understanding so far, really trying to be in a relationship with Booth. This chapter is no different. But just wait. The shoe will be on the other foot soon. I promise. Both these people have baggage, but the Hannah thing needed to be addressed. I'm not sure there is much that could make me okay with her existence in my favorite duo's lives, but I couldn't just pretend she was never around._

_**Adjustments-Chapter 5**_

Hannah.

If air could actually be sucked out of a room, then Dr. Sweets' office had fallen victim to the phenomenon.

At least, that was how it felt to the two people sitting across from the estimable young doctor.

Brennan had debated whether or not to even mention the blonde reporter her partner had been so fond of, but she felt like she had to be forthcoming. Booth said it was important to be honest and say everything. If she was going to sit through even just one therapy session with Sweets then she was going to give it her all. Temperance Brennan didn't do anything halfway.

As for Booth, his face passed about seven different emotions in about as many seconds. Surprise, fear, anger, hurt, embarrassment, defeat and resignation danced through his eyes. With anyone else she might have noticed one, but this was Booth and she saw them all.

"You said that it was important to be truthful for therapy to be successful." She felt like he needed the reminder. They had not ever deigned to discuss Hannah. Brennan knew he was purposely avoiding talking about his relationship with Hannah and most days that was fine.

Today it just wasn't fine to pretend anymore.

"No, yeah….of course, Bones. Yeah. That's…" he breathed deeply. "…that's fine."

"Agent Booth, you obviously do not feel 'fine' with the subject of Hannah."

"Well, you know, it's just, it's in the past. I don't think it's really that important. It didn't work out, so that's it."

"But Dr. Brennan obviously does think it's important, right Dr. Brennan?" He didn't wait for her to answer. "You just said that, in your opinion, Hannah was the catalyst that brought you and Agent Booth together."

"Yes. That is what I said." She was annoyed with Sweets regurgitating her own words.

"Why don't you explain why you feel that way."

She tried to formulate her words. Tact was not something she was always good at. It wasn't even something she necessarily aspired to all the time. But this seemed to call for it, because while she may want to discuss Hannah, she knew now, with certainty this would have been better handled without Sweets. She silently berated herself for falling for this psychological trap known as therapy.

"When I came back from the Maluku Islands and Booth returned from Afghanistan…" she began, but Sweets interrupted her.

"Don't tell me. Tell him." He bobbed his head towards Booth.

"Fine." She gritted her teeth. Why was this man-child so irritating? "When we came back last year, I…I had come to realize some things about my feelings for you. But, when we met up again you had Hannah."

Booth just looked at her and said nothing. She pushed forward. "I knew that I had pushed you away. That the discomfort between us was because of me. But when I was away I had time to think. A lot of time to think. And I realized that rather than protecting you, I hurt you. It's one of my biggest regrets, Booth." She swallowed, her heart beating so loudly that a person of lesser intelligence probably would have thought the men in the room could hear it too.

Booth shifted uncomfortably in his chair.

"But then you were here. And Hannah was here. And you chose her. And it hurt. It hurt a lot. I tried so hard to be happy for you. I became friends with her, picked out a gift for you with her, visited her in the hospital… I told her to be good to you, asked her not to hurt you and I asked her early on to stop if she wasn't serious. She assured me that she was."

He wouldn't look at her at all but she couldn't stop now.

"At first I tried to remind myself that you didn't know even know you'd made a choice. You had no idea how I felt, what conclusions I had come to. You didn't know that I thought I was ready to try 'us.' And then there was no 'us' to try, because when I told you what I felt, you told me you were with her. She wasn't a consolation prize."

Booth looked miserable. Absolutely and completely defeated. But it was out there and she had to finish it.

"And then you proposed. And she declined. You were so bitter and so angry. And I knew I had done that to you, too."

She hadn't thought he could look more gutted, but he did.

"We weren't the way we were before we left. Before you went to Afghanistan I asked you not to be a hero. I was terrified of losing you, even though I couldn't admit why. And then you were here and I…" she paused, feeling her tears spill over. "I'd metaphorically lost you anyway. We didn't get lunch, or drinks after a case anymore. You didn't call much. You skipped out on our friends' big announcement. You were just…busy. Too busy for me."

Booth remembered that horrible, rainy night when he'd broken her heart. It had been the worst night of his life. He felt that now, this moment, was running a close second.

"And how was that a catalyst to your relationship now?" Sweets' voice was gentle and low.

"Because without Hannah, I would never have known what it felt like to lose you. Without that loss, that hurt, I would likely have remained more impervious." She reached across the couch, put her hand on his knee. "Without the loss, I couldn't understand what I was missing all along. Not completely. I'm not sure I would truly have been brave enough to try for us. I doubt I'd be voluntarily sitting in therapy fighting for us."

"Agent Booth? That is quite a revelation from your partner. How does that make you feel?"

"I don't know if I can go there, Sweets."

"Yes, yes you can. I believe that this is important. Dr. Brennan has done a lot of giving here, opened up in a way that I've never seen. It is important you show her that you are willing to do the same."

Booth stared at Brennan's hand on his knee but said nothing.

"Okay, let's break it down. The topic of Hannah clearly makes you uncomfortable, but I would posit that it's not the woman, but the pain that your involvement with her caused Dr. Brennan that makes you feel uncomfortable. What do you say about that?"

"It's not that simple."

Brennan felt she had to fix this mess she had made. "Booth's right. It's in the past. I may feel it was the catalyst to now and he may not, but we don't have to have the same catalyst do we? It's fine, Sweets. Let's leave it alone."

"You don't have to protect me, Bones." He spoke softly. " I knew the day would come when I would have to explain Hannah. It's just hard. I know that no matter what I say, there is no excuse for most of it." His voice was quiet and she could tell he was troubled.

"I know it was never your intention to hurt me, Booth. That's not who you are."

"You didn't write." He started abruptly. "Everything was so off when we left. I was just spinning. And she was there. She was fun and light and simple…all the things we weren't. And when I didn't hear from you, I thought…I thought that was it. You were done with me. I'd ruined it. Hannah was a bandage. God, it hurt so bad, Bones, to think you wanted nothing to do with me."

He grabbed the hand that she tried to pull away from his leg. "I needed to feel loved. I needed to feel like someone thought I was worth loving. She did that."

" Because I couldn't. And you loved her back." She filled in the blanks sadly.

"At first, I really thought I did. After a while…"

"After a while, what, Agent Booth?"

"After a while, after we were here a while, in real life, together, I wasn't as sure."

"But, you proposed." Brennan was confused. She didn't like being confused about things she couldn't reason out.

"Yeah. I did."

"But if you didn't love her…"

"I can't answer that Bones. I don't really know why I did it. I think I was scared."

"Of what?"

"That it would never be that easy with you. It was always you that I wanted, Bones, but I just didn't think it could happen. I mean, let's face it, I was kind of a jackass when I came back. I threw her in your face. I wanted you to hurt the way I did. And then, when I realized that I would never not want you, I needed to prove to myself and anyone who would listen that I was doing the right thing, being with Hannah…I just couldn't be that sucker pining away for someone who didn't want me when I had someone who did want me."

"So you proposed."

"So I proposed."

"Then why was it so difficult when she turned you down if she wasn't what you wanted in the first place?" Brennan's head hurt.

"It pretty much sucks when even your second choice won't have you."

"Booth!" She was stunned. He was worth so much more than that.

"I just had myself convinced she was my last shot at that stupid, ideal life we talked about the other day. I thought I could make it work, which is so not the way to go into a marriage. But if I couldn't have you, then maybe Hannah was enough. But she didn't want me either."

"And what do you think now, Agent Booth?"

"That I'm thankful she said no." He smirked. Then, more seriously, " I think that I'm an idiot. An idiot who hurt the woman who means the most to me in this world. I'm so sorry Bones. For all of it."

"I know you are. I'm sorry for hurting you, too."

"Thanks, Bones." He sighed. "It just all should have gone so differently, ya know?"

"But it brought us to where we are now." she pointed out.

"Yeah, it did. And that is a very good thing." He laced his fingers through hers and met her eyes.

"We are doing quite well together." She said confidently.

"Yes we are." He beamed.

Truth be told, Dr. Lance Sweets may as well not even have been there.

And he was perfectly fine pretending that he wasn't. All he'd ever wanted was for his friends to get it all figured out. He'd wanted it almost as much as they did.

_Thanks for reading. Please review._


	6. Chapter 6

_Thanks again for all the lovely reviews and all the alerts. They really mean a lot to me._

_Heads up, this one is a bit longer than the rest, but I think it's my favorite so far._

**Adjustments-Chapter 6**

Brennan had escaped from the platform to her office. This morning sickness was impeding her professional abilities and she was tired of it. At only 8 weeks pregnant she had at least another month of trying to do her job and fool her friends while pretending to be fine. It was getting old.

"Hey, Sweetie, I'm going to grab some coffee. Wanna go?" Angela wasn't officially back from maternity leave. She was just suffering from cabin fever being home with Michael all day and had ridden into the lab with Hodgins that morning.

"Ange, I have so much work." She waved her hand over her desk. Secretly, she just didn't want to walk through the lab. Her stomach was flip flopping all over and she wasn't sure it could handle another good whiff of the rather foul smelling body that had come in from a dumpster that morning.

"Come on! I haven't seen you in a week! I want some girl time. Forty-five minutes. Then you can do paperwork all day long if you want." She pointed at the baby stroller. "Besides, Michael needs some Auntie Bren time."

It was too much to resist her best friend's ploy. Angela was the only person who knew about her and Booth. It was so nice to have someone besides Booth to talk to about all the thoughts running through her head regarding their relationship. She smiled. "Thirty minutes. I can give you thirty minutes. " She would do her best to breathe through her mouth on her way out.

Ten minutes later they were situated at an outdoor table at a local coffee place. The smell inside had been too much for Brennan. She had ordered her usual with no intention of drinking it but she knew if she didn't at least pretend, Angela would notice. So she busied herself holding Michael and let Angela talk.

"I mean, I love being home with him. I really do, but I was going a little stir crazy and then the pest control guy was coming and I was having all these thoughts about the poison coming in through the vents and Michael inhaling them…anyway we had to get out. Do you think I should cancel pest control?"

"I'm surprised Hodgins has pest control." Brennan couldn't take her eyes off the baby. "Your father likes bugs." She told him.

Angela laughed. "It's more for me. I don't like mice or spiders. Or bugs, but we won't talk about that." She watched as her son's eyes began to close for longer and longer intervals. "You can put him back in the carrier if you want. I think he's about to drop off."

"No. I don't mind."

"You're coffee is getting cold."

"I don't mind that either." She just could not stop looking at the baby's sweet face.

Angela was thrilled with her best friend's relationship with her child. Brennan had grown so much in the past several years and she knew one big reason for some of that.

"So how are things with you and Booth?"

"Good, I think."

"You think?"

Brennan wrinkled her nose. "We talked about Hannah."

'Oooh. How'd that go?"

"Well," she paused, gauging how much she wanted to share while she played with one of Michael's tiny fingers. "It was good. I mean, there were things we needed to talk about. Hannah was certainly one of them."

"I'll say. So how did he explain Baghdad Barbie?"

"Angela! You liked her!"

"As a person she was alright. But not for Booth. And I'm certainly entitled to not like her after the fact. She hurt my friends. I can call her whatever I want." Angela was nothing if not fiercely loyal.

"Well don't let Booth hear you. He feels bad enough."

"Does he now? He should. He was awful when he was with her."

"He is very remorseful, Angela. Let it go."

"I'll try." She smiled. "So things are good?"

"Yeah."

"How's the sex? And don't say good!"

"I'm not giving any details."

"Let me live through you, Bren, please?" Angela was not a fan of the post baby abstinence prescribed by her doctor.

"It's very satisfying. It's…" she struggled to find the words.

"Earth shattering? Soul touching? Hot as hell?"

"Yes to all three." laughed Brennan.

"I'm so, so happy for you guys, Bren. This was a long time coming." Angela was getting teary, and although she could blame her hormones, she knew that wasn't really why.

"Thanks Ange."

"So, when are you going to tell everybody? I mean, I'm flattered to be the big secret keeper on this one, but what gives? Why don't you want to share?"

"What's ours is ours" recited Brennan. And then "We're just not ready. I can't explain it."

"I think it's sweet. It's like your cozy little thing. No outside influences or opinions, no one butting their nose in where they don't belong. Well, except me, but I don't count. Hey, does he know that I know?"

"Yes, I couldn't keep that from him. Have you told Hodgins?" This had been Brennan's greatest fear. Angela and Hodgins hid nothing from each other.

"Honey, if he's awake, then I'm asleep. If I'm awake then he's asleep. I'm telling you, if Jack and I are discussing anything it's poopy diapers and baby spit. I haven't said a word."

"You're a good friend, Angela." Her phone beeped with a text. She looked quickly. "Looks like we've got cause of death. I guess it's time to go back." She handed Michael to Angela and watched as she laid him back in his carrier and strapped him in with all the ease of a pro.

"How do you know how to do it all?" Brennan wondered aloud as Angela placed a tiny cap on her son's head and made sure he was shielded from the sun.

"You just do." said Angela. "I guess it's true about a mother's instincts." They began to walk back towards the Jeffersonian. There was a long silence and Brennan could see that Angela was trying to figure out how to explain what she meant. "I mean, there have been things along the way that were challenging. His eyesight was the biggest one, obviously. But there are little things too. Hodgins could not get the crib put together to save his life, and I plugged all the sockets with these safety caps and I can't get them out without breaking a nail or hiring a strongman. And well, child birth was no walk in the park. Plus the lack of sleep could kill a person, but you get it figured out. It's just being a parent. You just sort of do it."

Brennan stopped. "But it's all worth it, right?"

Angela looked at her friend quizzically. "Of course it is, Brennan." They resumed walking. "Michael…he's is my greatest masterpiece."

Now it was Brennan's turn to blink back tears. "He really is beautiful, Ange."

"Thanks, Sweetie." They entered the lab and stopped short. "Oh, blech. I'd forgotten how bad this place can smell."

Brennan just nodded, too afraid to open her mouth, quite sure her face was taking on a greenish hue.

"Hey, hey, Bones! There you are. I've got paperwork for you on your desk. Gotta get it back to the office! Chop, chop!" Booth appeared out of nowhere and took her by the shoulders, propelling her towards her office.

"Nice to see you too, there, Agent Studly!" Angela hollered after them, smiling knowingly. Booth raised one arm in response before he and Brennan disappeared into her office and he kicked the door shut behind him.

"Here!" He pushed a garbage can into her hands as she lost the little bit of breakfast she had eaten. When she was finished he handed her a bottle of water to rinse her mouth.

"How did you know?" she asked, sitting down on her couch weakly.

"I just had to look at you to know."

She groaned. "Just don't bring me anymore dumpster bodies and I think I can manage a few more weeks."

He smiled. "Yeah, that one's pretty ripe. Cam says it's definitely murder." He checked his phone. "Maybe we should tell them."

"About us or the baby? Or both?"

"Either. Both. I don't know." He checked his phone again. "I mean, I kinda like it just being our little secret."

"Well, ours and Angela and Sweets."

He chuckled. "Right. Us and Angela and Sweets." Another glance at his phone.

"What's ours is ours" she repeated for the second time that day. "Angela says it's cozy."

"Cozy, huh?"

She nodded. "It seemed like a good description."

"And she doesn't even know the whole story." He sat next to her. "Do you want to tell?"

"Not really. At least, not about the baby."

"Plus it'd be weird, right? To make this big announcement about us? 'Hey Everyone, gather around. We're together now, just thought you should know!'"

She smiled. "It would seem a little bit egotistical. I doubt they care that much."

"Maybe not." Another quick glance at his phone.

"Are you waiting for a call?"

"What? Oh, no. There's a thing at a bank. They might need me" he explained quickly. "You know, eventually people will just notice us and if they don't then when we tell them about the baby they'll figure it out."

"That's true. We could just let it happen more…organically."

"You are all about organic." teased Booth.

"Fine. But I still think work is work. Don't kiss me in the lab or do that annoying thing where you talk to my stomach."

"You think that's annoying?"

"I've told you that."

"Too bad that won't stop me." He charm smiled at her.

"Just not in the lab. We'll just be normal. The people here are smart. Their deductive reasoning is quite good. Eventually they'll see it."

"That sounds fine, Bones." He rubbed her back. "I think Cam's waiting to show you what she found, get your opinion. Think you can go out there?"

She made a face. "It's such a fleshy one."

"Which is how we got around me taking Cam and not you."

She stood. "I think I can do it. I'm feeling better." She found a mint in her desk. "Let's go."

They went out to the lab and Brennan willed herself to be professional. "What do you have for me, Cam?"

"Looks like ligature marks on the neck for sure. Maybe the wrists, too."

"Could also be defensive wounds on the wrists. There look to be marks on the hands as well." Brennan suggested.

"She's too decomposed to tell."

"Have you got everything you need?"

"Yep. She's all yours, Dr. Brennan."

"Mr. Bray, clean the bones. Maybe then we will be able to determine what caused the marks on her wrists."

"You got it, Dr. Brennan."

Hodgins emerged from his office. "I've got a lot to sift through. People from all over used that dumpster. There are flies and larvae and all kinds of particulates, but so far I haven't been able to determine what's from her and what's just on her from the dumpster. I'm running some tests of what was under her fingernails, but they were pretty clean. This could take a while."

"The faster the better, Hodgins." said Booth as his phone signaled an incoming text.

"As always, G-man."

"Okay, I gotta go." Booth's eyes found Brennan's.

"The bank thing?" she asked. She could see a change in Booth's tension level.

"Yeah. It's a heist gone wrong. There are hostages. They want to send a team in there through the air ducts and stuff."

"A…" she hated to say it. "…a sniper team?"

"Yeah."

"Lead by you?"

"I'm the best." He tried to make light of the situation. She wouldn't allow it.

"It sounds dangerous."

"It is." He confessed gently. "These guys are desperate. The negotiators have been trying to reason with them all morning, but they cut off all communication an hour ago. Their backs are against the wall. We're afraid they're going to start killing hostages. This is the next step."

Brennan wondered briefly if she looked as scared as she felt.

"Booth…" She stepped towards him.

"I'll be careful, Bones."

"Okay." She nodded, trying not to let the fear get the better of her.

He reached out and squeezed her hand. "I'll call you when it's done."

She nodded again, unable to find any words at all. Her internal dialogue consisted of nothing more than "Please don't leave me now. Please come home. Please be safe" over and over and over again. But she kept her thoughts to herself. One look in his eyes and she knew that he knew.

He let go of her hand after one last squeeze and turned away, walking down the stairs towards the doors.

Brennan felt Angela at her elbow and when she turned to look she saw her best friend and all her other friends looking at her, their eyes full of sympathy for her and fear for Booth.

"Bren…" Angela said softly.

Suddenly none of them mattered. Nothing mattered except Booth. She whipped back around toward the front of the Jeffersonian where she could see the most important person in her life walking away.

"Booth!" She was running. Running to him, fear driving her every step.

He turned and saw her flying towards him. He opened his arms and she threw hers around his neck and held on for dear life.

He held her tight, with everything he had, squeezing his eyes shut, taking in everything about her. The feel of her in his arms, the smell of her hair, the goodness of her heart. This was what would get him through this assignment.

"Just don't be a hero. Please don't be a hero." She begged.

"I won't, Baby." He whispered his promise, using his name for her that had been confined to their most intimate moments until now.

She stepped back out of his arms, took his hand and laid it on her still flat stomach, her hand over his. "Remember what you have to come home to" she pleaded softly.

He cupped her face with his free hand and kissed her with every promise his heart could make. He kissed her for their past, for all the times they'd hurt each other, for all the times they'd saved each other, for all the times they'd learned from each other, for all the times they'd made love together.

But mostly he kissed her for their future.

He ended the kiss by pulling away and resting his forehead on hers.

"I promise you, Bones. I will be coming home tonight." He refused to acknowledge even the smallest chance that he might not.

"Okay."

He pulled away and she let go of his hand. He left. He didn't look back. He couldn't. He wouldn't have been able to go if he had.

She hadn't expected him to turn around, but she stood and stared at the doors he'd walked out of for a very long time.

Up on the platform, all eyes had been glued to the scene that had played out before them. They hadn't been able to hear any of it, but they had seen most of it, and that was enough. Each and every one of them stood stock still, utter shock on all their faces. All except one.

Angela Montenegro was smiling.

"Oh, close your mouths, People, or you're going to catch some of the flies that came in with this corpse" she commanded as she headed down the stairs to go to her friend.

At least one secret was out.

_Please review. Thank you for reading._


	7. Chapter 7

_Over 100 reviews and counting! Thank you all so much. I should count up the alerts as well. I'm so thrilled you all like this story so much. Thank you!_

**Adjustments-Chapter 7**

It had been 1:17 when Booth had walked out the front doors of the Jeffersonian.

It was 6:36 that evening before her phone rang.

Angela had waited with her. The others had, too, of course, but Angela, still on maternity leave, had nothing to do except care for her son and her friend. Not that Brennan needed caring for, but Angela did what Angela does best sometimes: she hovered. Brennan couldn't help but wonder how anxious Angela would be if she knew about the pregnancy.

At one point, someone had brought food. She had eaten a little, thinking that Booth would chide her that the baby was hungry even if she wasn't. It had been all she could do to choke down a small salad.

Unreasonably, by 2:30 Brennan was looking at her phone, hoping to see she had missed a call from Booth. She knew better, of course and had explained to the others why it was taking so long, even though they hadn't asked. When he had left, the team was still assembling. Then they had to plan, gear up, get in and execute their plan.

The word execute had made her shiver so violently that Cam had offered her a sweater.

No one said anything about the kiss and that was fine with her. She knew they had seen it, knew that one part of her relationship with Booth was no longer a secret. But she didn't want to talk about it. If she put it out there, discussed it, it was tangible, something to be lost. She couldn't face that. The other secret was still safe. Her back had been to them. They hadn't seen her hold his hand to her abdomen. The baby was still their "cozy little thing."

She clung to that coziness now while she tried to focus on work.

The media had nothing new to report. Wendell had turned the TV on for news coverage, but when it became clear that the reporters had even less information than they did, Hodgins turned it off. They would wait, he said, to hear it from Booth. The media could be too easily manipulated, anyway, so they really couldn't be trusted. It had made Brennan smile a little to hear him say that. It had been a long time since Hodgins' paranoia had made an appearance. It was a nice attempt at normalcy that she truly appreciated.

By 3:00 she had a desperate urge to go to Bone Storage as an escape from her friends' watchful eyes. The desire to pretend none of this was real was becoming overwhelming and unmanageable all at once.

By 4:10 she had assembled an entire skeleton and identified a cause of death no one else had noticed in the past.

At 4:35 Angela had fished her out of Bone Storage under the pretense that she needed help with the baby. Michael was just sleeping in his carrier, but Brennan understood the gesture. She cooed at the baby while Angela pretended to do something in her office. He was a welcome little distraction.

At some point, someone had turned the television back on, keeping it low to avoid Hodgins' scornful gaze.

4:52 was when her personal hell began.

The news channel was reporting an exclusive. There had been shots fired on the inside of the bank. There was smoke coming from the building. A dead hostage had been thrown out the front door onto the steps of the bank. And while the channel couldn't get any pictures from the ground or from their helicopter due to the FBI restricting access, they had gotten a window at a nearby high rise and with a zoom lens taken some still photos.

The photos were terrifying.

She fled to her office and took several deep breaths. She could imagine Booth's voice. "Easy there, Bones," he would say.

"I've known Booth a long time, Dr. Brennan," came Cam's voice from the doorway. "He's good at his job. He was right when he said he's the best. I'm sure he's fine."

Brennan nodded. "Thank you, Cam."

"Sure." Cam turned to leave, not sure Brennan would want her lingering there. But then, she thought there was one more thing she should say. "I've known Booth a very long time…"

"You mentioned that." Brennan pointed out, matter of factly, and Cam knew the defense mechanism when she saw it.

"Yes, I did. What I was going to say is that I've known him long enough to be able to read him. Whatever he told you down by the doors, he meant it."

She turned and began to leave.

"He said…" Brennan struggled and Cam turned back to listen. "He said he'd come home tonight."

"Then believe that he will."

"He couldn't possibly know that. He can't promise things that involve circumstances beyond his control, especially not ones like these."

"He has Parker. He has you. Believe me when I tell you that Booth has everything he's ever wanted. He'll call just like he said he would and after that, he'll come home."

Brennan contemplated Cam's words. Logically, she knew Cam couldn't make any guarantees, but she found she wanted to believe her. That somehow, it made it all a little more bearable to know that Cam believed Booth would be fine.

"Thank you, Cam."

"Yeah." She gave a small nod and left, the click of her heels fading off as she walked away.

It was 5:20 and she had heard nothing. She knew Booth wouldn't answer his phone. Of course he'd turn it off. It may even not be on him, but she just had to try.

It went straight to voicemail.

Rationally, she had known that it would, but that didn't stop her from hating that it did.

She felt herself getting agitated, irrational and unreasonable and she hated that too.

She was saved from herself by Wendell at 5:44.

"Dr. Brennan? The bones are clean."

"I'll be right there." She checked to make sure both her ringer and her vibrate mode were on and slipped her phone into the pocket of her lab coat. Taking a deep breath she steadied herself before she left the safety of her office.

Soon she was immersed in the skeleton of the latest victim, or at least it looked that way. She asked Angela to please run a scenario through the Angelatron even though she wasn't really working. Angela agreed, glad to be able to provide a distraction for her friend. She asked Wendell to take a closer look at some anomalies on the victim's left femur and she spoke with Hodgins about his progress with particulates.

But she never stopped keeping track of the clock.

At 6:36 her phone rang.

But there was no relief.

It wasn't Booth's ring tone.

The caller ID said Andrew Hacker.

_Thanks for reading. Please leave a review and tell me what you think!_


	8. Chapter 8

_Holy cow, you guys rock. Those were some seriously nice reviews you left for Chapter 7. Thank you so much. _

**Adjustments-Chapter 8**

"Brennan." Her voice betrayed her. She had wanted to sound stronger.

'Temperance, it's Andrew Hacker."

"What happened?" She was not going to spend time on pleasantries.

"It all went to hell. We're still sorting the details, but we got everyone out alive minus one hostage and the bad guys. There are injuries, though."

"Where is Booth?" Was that her voice? There was an edge to it that sounded nearly homicidal. It must have to Angela as well, because she placed a hand on Brennan's shoulder.

"He asked me to call. He rode in the ambulance with one of the sniper team who got hurt."

"But he's…?"

"He's fine, Temperance."

"Which hospital?"

"George Washington."

Brennan hung up without a goodbye. "I have to get to George Washington hospital," she announced to her friends.

"Is he hurt?" Cam looked as if she might cry.

"Andrew says he's fine. He accompanied an injured agent there, but…" she trailed off, realizing Booth had dropped her at the lab that morning. She didn't have her car.

"You want to see for yourself." Angela supplied. "Of course." To her husband, "We can take her, right?"

"Yeah, absolutely. Let's go." Hodgins didn't hesitate.

Fifteen minutes later she was standing in the chaos of the Emergency Room, trying to find out whatever she could about where Booth may be. Since he wasn't an actual patient, it was a trying process.

"No, he's not a patient." she began for the third time, her patience wearing thin. "He came in with one of the injured FBI agents."

"Is he waiting to be seen?"

"I don't know. I don't have any details…" she scanned the room again.

She felt his eyes on her before she saw him. She would rationally argue that that was impossible. You can't feel someone looking at you.

But she could. She knew he was there. She'd been looking for him, but he'd found her first.

She moved away from the nurse who was trying to help her and began to turn a small, slow circle in place, visually sweeping the room for his form.

It only took a few seconds to see him.

She bit her lip to try to keep her decorum.

He looked like hell. He had a cut over one eyebrow that had left a stream of dried blood down his cheek. He had some kind of white particulates in his hair, dust maybe, and his face was smudged with what looked like soot and he seemed to be favoring his right arm. He was clearly exhausted.

She purposely resisted the urge to run to him like she had earlier that day. She refused to make a spectacle of herself, though she really wanted to just fling herself into him. She crossed the room to where he was leaning against the wall and when she reached him, he simply pulled her into his chest with his left arm.

They stood like that for a while before either of them spoke.

"Hi." She ventured.

"Hey, Bones."

"Rough day?"

"Yeah. You could say that."

"Do you need to be seen by a doctor?" She stepped back and surveyed him critically.

"No. I'm better off than some of the other agents." He grimaced as he said it and Brennan just knew he was blaming himself for their injuries; for whatever had gone wrong.

"Do you want to talk about it?" Because sometimes he didn't.

"No." He closed his eyes and tipped his head back against the wall, then opened them to look at the ceiling. "How'd you get here?" He was changing the subject, striving for normalcy.

"Angela and Hodgins dropped me off. They were going to come in, but emergency rooms are so germ laden. I didn't think it was a good place for Michael's young immune system. He would be quite likely to catch something in here." She looked around at the dingy, grimy, disease infected area distastefully.

"Same goes for you."

"My immune system is fine."

"You should go, though. I don't want you and the baby to get sick."

"The baby isn't going to get sick, Booth. He or she is safely ensconced in my womb inside an amniotic sac. You know that."

He nodded and looked past her, down the hall to the triage area. "Some of them are really bad off" he said as much to himself as to her.

"You want to stay." She wasn't asking, really. She knew he wouldn't leave for a while.

"Yeah. I should. Some of their wives are coming…I should be here."

She nodded, positioning herself next to him against the wall. "Then we'll stay."

He looked at her. He should have known better than to be surprised by anything she does after all these years, but she still gets him every now and then.

"It's a partner thing." She offered, by way of explanation.

He didn't answer. Instead, he simply threaded his fingers through hers.

And they waited.

_Thanks for reading. Please leave a review._


	9. Chapter 9

_You are all so, so sweet and generous with your comments and alerts. Thank you! I try to get back to as many of you as I can, but sometimes it's respond or write and I figure you'd rather I write, right?_

_So far we've seen a lot of Booth's issues and I made a promise that he wasn't the only one with baggage, remember? So here we go._

**Adjustments-Chapter 9**

It was very nearly midnight when they left the hospital. The cabdriver had to wonder about them, the scruffy man with the weary, beat up face and the beautiful, exhausted woman who struggled to keep her eyes open against fatigue.

Or maybe he didn't. Brennan supposed that cabbies who do pick ups at hospitals probably see all kinds of people.

She gave the driver Booth's address because it was closer. Even the five minute difference between her place and his was five minutes too many. She just wanted to sleep in the closest bed. The day had been long and grueling. The night had not been any easier. For the first time ever, she was tired of thinking.

They didn't speak. She fought hard against dropping off from the motion of the car and he was lost in thought.

There had been three agents severely hurt in the debacle at the bank. Everything that could have gone wrong did and Booth's team had taken some pretty serious hits. Through the bits and pieces she was hearing from various agents and officials at the hospital Brennan had pieced together that none of it was Booth's fault, but she knew that didn't mean he didn't feel responsible.

She'd watched as he'd spoken with the wives, one by one, as they arrived. She listened as he assured each of them of her husband's strength and bravery and she wondered if any of these devastated women had had the chance to beg their husbands not to be a hero before they'd left for their assignment at the bank. She wondered if any of the men had promised to come home.

She wondered if any of them would.

The cab pulled up in front of Booth's and Brennan exited the taxi while Booth paid. There were times in the past she would have given anything to come here, to his home and his bed, after a day like today. And now, she could. It thrilled and scared her all at once, this level of belonging.

Their silence continued as they readied for bed. Booth showered to wash the day off, Brennan donned a vintage Noddy Comet T-shirt of Booth's, brushed her teeth and slid into bed. She laid on her side, total exhaustion making her entire body ache.

She was not a cuddler by nature. She loved good sex and intimacy, but for sleep she preferred her own space. Despite that, she was grateful when Booth got into bed and gravitated towards her, moulding his body to the back of hers, wrapping his arms around her, burying his face in her hair. It grounded her, somehow.

"Jenny Dalton was the worst one." He whispered.

"Yes." Brennan agreed, thinking of the young, pregnant wife of the most severely injured agent. She had watched Booth take her hand and explain what happened. He had stood by her as the doctor explained the extent of the injuries, the likelihood of his recovery. Booth had held her up as her legs gave out from beneath her. "She was very upset. It was…difficult to watch."

"Yeah. It was."

"His injuries are very serious, Booth. A penetrating chest wound with a tension pneumothorax and cardiac tamponade… I think the doctor was being generous in his statements regarding Agent Dalton's recovery."

"You don't think he'll make it."

"I think the human body can take a lot of punishment and can heal from many things and we should never underestimate it. But in my opinion, no. I don't believe he will survive and the doctor was erroneous in allowing Mrs. Dalton to believe recovery is a real possibility."

He was very still for a long time, before he asked his next question. "Why the squint speak in bed, Bones?"

"What? I'm not. This is how I talk."

"Okay." He didn't sound like he agreed.

"It _is_."

"_Okay_."

"Why are you saying it like that?"

"What?"

"Okay…like it's not okay. Like you don't believe me."

"You just sound funny."

"I don't sound funny. I'm talking like I always do, Booth. This is how I speak."

"Not ha-ha funny. Like something's up funny."

"What, like I'm keeping some big secret from you?"

"Are you?"

"Keeping a big secret from you?"

"Yeah. Are you?"

"No. Of course not. I am speaking the same as I always do."

"Okay."

"Stop saying that."

"Fine."

The air was silent between them for a while.

"I'm just really tired Booth."

"Then go to sleep."

She wriggled in his arms and he loosened his hold on her so she could turn and face him. She looked at him for a long time, the light coming in through the blinds just enough for taking in all the lines on his face, the warmth of his eyes and the slight curve of a vague smile that appeared when he realized she was studying him.

"What are you doing?" He asked, chuckling.

"Memorizing your face."

"Did you forget what I look like?" he teased.

"No, of course not." She answered, but gave no explanation.

Something was bothering her, he knew. He'd been looking at those sky blue eyes for so long that he knew a storm front when he saw one there. He'd also known her long enough to know not to push. At least, not yet.

So he kissed her instead.

That was when he knew what was going on in her head. He could feel it in her response.

She was retreating.

And that terrified him.

He broke the kiss.

Mentally he was saying "No! No, no, no, no, no!" To her he said "Sleep, Bones. We both need sleep," and rolled to his side of the bed, the way he knew she preferred.

"Yes. Sleep. Goodnight, Booth. Rest well." She turned back to her other side.

"You too."

But neither of them did.

After an hour had ticked by he was tired of pretending they were asleep.

"I can feel you thinking, Bones."

"That's absurd. You can't feel thinking."

"I can feel _you_ thinking. It changes the air in the room."

"Now I know you are exhausted because that is the most ridiculous thing you have ever said."

"Bones. What's going on?"

"Nothing. I just can't sleep."

"Bones."

She turned to look at him. He could see the conflict in her eyes. She could see the turmoil in his.

Could she do this? Could she just say what she was feeling? Could it be that easy?

"Just tell me."

"You won't like it."

"Tell me anyway."

She took a deep breath. "Jenny Dalton."

"What?"

"I…I don't ever want to be Jenny Dalton."

"I don't…I don't understand." He did, actually, but he wanted her to say it, to put it in her own words. Sweets had cautioned him not to tell Bones what she was feeling, but to let her tell him.

"She was so devastated. The chances that she will be a widow in the next twenty four hours are substantial. Did you hear her? Did you hear what she said?"

"Yeah. I did." He would never forget the woman's cries, pleading with God, begging Him not to take her husband, that she was nothing without him.

"I can't…I can't be her."

"I think you are a stronger person than Jenny Dalton."

"I used to think so too, but now I'm not so certain."

"Why?"

She struggled to find the words. "In the past…when we…when we were just work partners, I worried about you. Often I was there with you, and I knew you were safe. When I wasn't…I was able to compartmentalize, to focus on my work. When things with us became difficult or scary to me I would go on a dig or go teach a lecture series somewhere. I could regroup. Today I couldn't focus. I don't do things like throw myself at you and beg you to make promises you can't possibly keep. But I did. I watched the clock all day. I couldn't think. And then, when I saw you at the hospital I just wanted to…to grab on to you and never let you go. It was so unlike who I've always been and I'm petrified of that. Who am I now? I'm…I already am Jenny Dalton and I don't want to be. But now, I can't leave. There's no…I can't…"

"You can't escape. Between me and the baby, you can't escape." He broke Sweets' rule.

"I just keep thinking about an offer I got from UC Berkeley."

"California?" He felt a familiar dread in his chest and stomach.

"Yes. It's a good offer."

"And it allows you to run."

"Yes. For a while."

He took a deep breath. He'd known that, eventually, this would happen. It always did.

And he didn't know how to beg her to stay without pushing her further away.

So he said the only thing he could think of. The only thing he thought might save them in the end.

"Maybe you should go."

_Reviews would be much appreciated._


	10. Chapter 10

_Thanks again for the lovely reviews and alerts. You all make me feel like a rock star!_

**Adjustments-Chapter 10**

She couldn't imagine that she'd heard him correctly. She sat up and reached over to turn on the bedside light, momentarily blinding them both.

"You…you think I should go?" she blinked rapidly, adjusting her eyes to be able to fully see his face.

"I don't want you to," he admitted, propping himself up on his left elbow, "but I don't think me begging you to stay will help anything."

She nodded, confirming his answer as fact. Begging her to stay would not help.

"Tell me about the offer from Berkley."

"It's for an accelerated summer program. Six weeks. Two four hour lectures per week, Tuesdays and Thursdays."

He was thankful it wasn't for more than six weeks.

"Starting when?"

"In two weeks. The regular professor went on unplanned medical leave. I'm quite sure Cam won't mind me going and since I'm not allowed in the field with you, the FBI won't care either."

"It sounds like it might be a good fit for you." He was trying, and she knew it.

"It's a very good school and their anthropology department is excellent."

He didn't want her to know that this was killing him. "Then I think you should go. It might be just what you need."

She spoke slowly, turning it all over in her mind as she spoke. "I have a doctor's appointment next week. I could schedule the next one for a Friday or a Monday. Then I could fly back here and you could go to the appointment with me. You won't miss a thing."

"I'll miss _you_." He couldn't let her choice of words go by.

"I know." She smiled at him. "And I know this isn't what you want. I know you're being nice to me right now."

"I'm always nice to you, Bones." He hoped lightening the mood with lighten his heart. It didn't.

She raised her hand to his cheek. "Yes, you are. You are the best man I know, Booth."

He closed his eyes at her touch, mentally telling himself he was doing the right thing. He could survive three weeks away from her, then a weekend with her, then another three weeks away. If, this is what she needed to do to stay with him in the long run, then this is what he would do.

He would not allow himself to think about the next time.

He opened his eyes and found her studying him once again.

"Please understand that I don't _want_ to want to run. I just have this overwhelming need to go, to think, without influence or interruption. I need to figure out who I am now. Today, my dependency on you scared me to death. And then when I saw Jenny Dalton I just panicked. I need to get my head glued on straight."

"Screwed on straight" He corrected, not able to help but smile.

"I am not leaving you, Booth. I'm not. I promise you. I want this, us, I do. I just need to figure out how to be half of a relationship and still be who I am." She slumped back onto her pillow. "I know I'm not explaining it very well."

"I know you aren't leaving me. I know you aren't giving up on us. We are still very, very new and even though we've been partners for years, what we have now is different. And a baby on top of that? It's just….it is overwhelming. It just is. Everyone deals with things differently. This is what you do. I'm willing to give what you need to sort it out because I expect good things to come from it. But please remember, Bones, that you don't need to be who you always were. It's okay to change a little. Fighting change makes it so much harder than learning to incorporate the change into who you've always been."

She nodded. "I just need to be able to figure it out on my own."

"Time and space."

"Yes. Time and space."

"I can give you that." He put his hand on her stomach. "For all you are giving me, I can give you that." He meant it.

She kissed him then and he felt none of the reticence from her that he had felt when he had kissed her earlier.

She deepened the kiss. He pulled back.

"I thought you were tired."

"Tired. Not sleepy." She grinned a saucy little grin that was for him and him alone and he laughed and kissed her hard.

Forty-five minutes later, in a tangle of bed sheets and limbs, they slept, not apart, as she preferred, but wrapped around one another so that in the dark it was hard to see where one ended and the other began.

After everything he had just conceded to for her, it was the least she could do.

And even she would have admitted that she liked it.

_Reviews please_


	11. Chapter 11

_I deleted the author's note in 10 and replaced it with a real chapter now, so be sure to read that first. It's an important, although fairly brief one, and I noticed the alert on it was wacky._ _Once again, thank you all for your encouragement._

**Adjustments-Chapter 11**

She emailed him her travel itinerary the next afternoon and suddenly all his understanding from the night before left him. He wanted to throw something or punch a wall, both of which left him with only one option.

He barged through the door without knocking. "She's leaving me."

"Knocking, Agent Booth. We've spoken before about knock…wait, what? She's leaving you?" Sweets' mouth was hanging open.

"Yep. California. Six weeks."

"Dude, I'm sorry, although it's not really unexpected is it? I mean, this is what she does. We've talked about this. You knew it was possible. Probable even."

"Yeah." Booth flopped onto the couch.

"Wait, is she leaving you or just leaving?"

"Just leaving."

"Oh, well, that's not as bad, then, right?"

"It feels bad."

"I'm sure it does." Lance Sweets was good at his job, so he simply waited for Booth to continue.

"She's overwhelmed. She feels like she's losing herself. I don't know how to help her."

"What did you say when she told you she was going to California?"

"Well, ya know, I just told her that if she wanted to go, she should go."

"So she discussed it with you?"

"Yeah."

"What did she say? How did that conversation go?"

Booth thought for a minute. "She said she was afraid of becoming Jenny Dalton. Then she said she thinks she already is Jenny Dalton and that scares her."

"Greg Dalton's wife?"

"Yeah. Bones was at the hospital with me yesterday. Jenny was in pretty bad shape."

"Ah. Gotcha. Then what?"

"She said that she had an offer from Berkley that she couldn't stop thinking about. That she needs to think without influence or interruption." He swallowed hard. "She said that she's not giving up on us."

"To which you said what?"

"I told her maybe she should go. I told her that I didn't want her to, but if that's what it takes for her to think and get a handle on everything then she should take the offer."

"So she didn't just decide she was going. She told you how she was feeling and the two of you discussed it."

"Well…yeah."

"And together you decided she should go to California."

"I guess."

"Well that's not the same as what she's done in the past at all, Agent Booth."

"How do you figure? Either way, she's gone and I'm left behind."

"She talked to you about her feelings. That is HUGE for her. Huge. She told you she wanted to go and why. That's not running away. That's…that's being half of a couple."

"But she is running, Sweets."

"I disagree. Completely."

"Then what would you call it?" Booth challenged.

"I'd call it progress."

"It doesn't feel like progress."

"Trust me when I tell you that it is."

Booth let out a deep breath. "I hate it."

"That's to be expected and totally normal."

Booth's phone signaled an incoming text while Sweets prattled on. "I'd love to talk with her about this propensity to leave someday."

"Crap."

"What is it?"

"Greg Dalton is dead. I gotta…I gotta go."

"Yeah. I'm here if you want to talk about Dalton later. Or anything else you want to discuss."

Booth stood. "Thanks Sweets."

"Any time, Agent Booth."

Booth found himself headed for the Jeffersonian.

"Hey Booth! I got some interesting particulates off the girl in the dumpster if you've got a minute." Hodgins flagged him down as soon as he stepped into the lab.

"Uh, yeah. Sure. I'll come find you in a few minutes, okay? I gotta talk to Bones first."

"Sure." The bug man smiled "So you and Dr. B, huh? I've got to say, it's about damn time."

"Yeah, thanks, Hodgins."

"Sure, man. You know where to find me." Hodgins veered off to his office as Booth proceeded to Bones'.

She looked up as soon as she saw movement in her doorway. One look at his face and she knew he wasn't just visiting to say hello.

"What's wrong, Booth?"

"Greg Dalton passed away."

She closed her eyes. If he hadn't known she wasn't religious in any way, he may have thought she said a quick prayer. "I'm sorry." she said, her voice catching just a little.

He nodded, unable to say anything.

"Sit down." She commanded gently. As he did, she got up and closed the door behind him, then sat next to him. "Are you okay?"

"No."

She put her hand on his arm.

"He was just a kid. Twenty-six, with a kid of his own on the way."

"Is someone with his wife?" she asked, always practical.

"She uh, she said something about calling her sister, I think. Hacker was at the hospital…"

"This wasn't your fault, Booth. Mistakes and miscalculations were made above your head. You and Greg Dalton and the others did what you were supposed to do."

"Yeah."

He leaned his head against her shoulder and they sat in silence for a very long time.

"I'll go to the funeral with you." She offered after a while.

"Thanks. I don't have any details yet."

"Let me know when you do."

He cleared his throat, collected himself. "Hodgins wants to talk to me about the dumpster body. We got a face on her yet?"

"No. Angela's temp is drawing now."

"By hand?"

"Angela took the keys and codes to the Angelatron. Apparently no one else can use it correctly."

"Okay. Send it to me when it's ready."

"Sure."

"Where are we tonight?" He hated having to ask. It sounded so wrong to his own ears.

"I think my place. I thought I could make dinner and I know I have what I need there."

"Sounds good. I'll meet you there."

"Can you pick me up? I rode in with you."

"Right, yeah. 5:30?"

"Sounds good." she smiled as he turned to leave. "Booth?"

He turned back, raised his eyebrows in response.

"Watch out for Cam. She's been looking for you. Apparently you have some explaining to do." Her eyes twinkled with laughter.

"I'm guessing she thinks she should have been more in the loop."

"It doesn't help that Angela knew."

"Right. I'll do my best to avoid." He smiled, his first genuine smile of the day.

"See you later."

"Bye, Bones." He headed for Hodgins' territory.

"Not so fast, there, Big Man" came the voice of his old friend.

"You know, Camille, you really shouldn't sneak up on people like that."

"Well, Seeley, the same could be said kept for keeping secrets." He was facing her now and he could see she was teasing him. "Seriously, how did I not know about you and Dr. Brennan?"

He shrugged. "We just kept it between us."

"And Angela."

"Yeah, well, she's her best friend."

"And I'm not one of yours?"

"You know that you are. We just…we weren't telling, that's all."

She smiled at him. "I'm just glad you finally got your act together. It's about time you told her you loved her."

"Well…"

"Oh, my God." Cam muttered. "You haven't told her yet?" She whispered fiercely.

"No. I haven't. Not...not yet."

"Well do you?"

"Love her? You know that I do." He lowered his voice considerably.

"Then what is the problem?" She hissed.

"I don't think she's ready for that. I don't want to scare her."

Camille Saroyan was rarely dumbstruck, but she found that she was now.

"You two being together isn't going to be any easier than you two being apart, is it." It was a statement, not a question.

"Look, Cam, it's just…it's all really, incredibly complicated."

"And it really doesn't have to be. That woman in there?" She pointed at Brennan's office. "She's crazy about you. I was here with her yesterday. I saw how she was. This morning she spent fifteen minutes in my office telling me all the reasons she should go to California. All I needed her to do was fill out a standard leave form. Anyone with half a brain would know she was trying to convince herself. She wants to be with you, you big jerk. Give her a reason to stay."

"I'm afraid of driving her away."

"To where? California? Because that's happening anyway. It's time to man up, Seeley. Tell her." She smacked his arm hard and stalked off.

He watched her go, mouth open, rubbing his arm where she'd hit him. Then he turned the opposite direction and regrouped.

"Hodgins! What've you got for me?"

_Even filler chapters deserve reviews, no?_


	12. Chapter 12

_Here you go, my lovelies. I hope you like it._

**Adjustments-Chapter 12**

Greg Dalton had died on a sunny Thursday afternoon.

The following Tuesday, the day of his funeral, was unseasonably gray and damp.

The weather reflected Booth's mood.

The reverend droned on, nice words were spoken, prayers said. Booth heard little of it. His eyes were on a pregnant, tearful Jenny Dalton.

She was surrounded by two women and two men, obviously her sister, her mother, and, most likely two brothers. She did not attempt to be stoic. Rather, she cried freely, one hand on her swollen belly, the other gripping her mother's hand tightly, letting go only to receive the folded up flag she was offered.

It did occur to him that, had something happened to him in the bank, they would have handed his flag to Pops or Jared. Worse yet, maybe Parker. Bones would have been labeled his work partner. No one would have thought to give it to her. She wasn't technically, at least as far as they knew, a loved one, but she was the one he loved the most. Bones and Parker. Parker and Bones.

There was so much to make right before she left in a week.

Cam's words reverberated in his ears. "Oh my God. You haven't told her yet?"

Should he? He just didn't know…but if it had been him in that bank instead of Dalton, she never would have known. But she was leaving and would those words fuel her escape? He feared they would. In the end, didn't he know her better than Cam did? Wouldn't he know when the time was right to tell her what he felt? His instincts were all he had on the matter, and truth be told, they had failed him before when it came to the enigmatic Dr. Brennan.

He sighed and she mistook it for guilt or maybe sadness and put her hand on his arm as she had when he'd first told her Greg Dalton was dead. He appreciated the comfort, even if she didn't really know why he needed it.

When the service was over Booth and Brennan approached Jenny Dalton to give their condolences.

"Agent Booth. Thank you for coming." She said shakily as he took her hand.

"We're very sorry for your loss, Mrs. Dalton." offered Brennan.

"This is Dr. Temperance Brennan." Booth offered. He hadn't introduced them at the hospital. The timing had been wrong for it. "Greg was a good agent, a good man. He'll be missed." His voice shook a little. This woman in front of him was quite broken.

"Thank you." To Brennan she said "It's difficult isn't it? Being the other half of an FBI agent? I mean, they warn you of course, you know what can happen, but when it does…it's like you had no warning. You just never expect…I still think he's coming home for dinner, you know?"

Brennan reached out and grasped the widow's hand. "Yes. I know." Because on some level, she did. "I'm sorry."

Jenny Dalton simply nodded in return and Booth guided Brennan away as the next FBI agent came to give their sympathies.

"You ready for the day to get better?" Booth asked as he slid in behind the wheel.

"Yes. Very. But Booth…"

"Don't. We talked about this. We are going to assume that everything is fine. I don't want to hear about statistics and probabilities and possibilities, alright? The baby is fine. We are going to go to this appointment and hear his heartbeat and it's going to be great."

"Booth, it's a possibility…"

"No. Just no. You still feel like crap every day. The books say that's a good sign, right?"

"Yes."

"Okay, then. Just think positive, here, Bones. Please." He was annoyed.

"Okay."

He couldn't let it go. "Why are you being Deputy Downer?"

"I don't know what that means."

"Why are you being so negative?"

"I'm not. It's just that statistically speaking there is a fair chance that we will go in and there won't be a heartbeat. I just want to be prepared."

"Bones, you can't think like that."

"It helps me."

"It helps you do what?"

"If something's wrong…I can handle it better if I'm prepared for it. That's all."

"Nothing is going to be wrong!" He gripped the wheel, steering the SUV through traffic.

"You can't know that. There is nothing that separates me from the all the women who don't have a viable fetus."

"Baby, Bones. Not a fetus, a baby." Now he was irritated.

He stole a quick look at her, but she turned her head quickly away from him. "Hey, hey. Are you…are you crying?" Instant guilt consumed him.

"No. Of course not." But she was. At least a little.

"I'm sorry."

"No, it's fine. You're right."

"I didn't mean to upset you."

"I know. It's just hormones."

"It's okay to admit that you're scared."

"I'm not scared."

"Talk to me, Bones."

"I don't like how little control I have over this. I have no say in the outcome. Logically, I understand the process, emotionally…I find it's better to distance myself right now. If the outcome is unfavorable I can handle it better than if I am emotionally invested."

Booth took a deep breath and tried to shake off the notion that she wasn't invested in their child. He simply didn't believe that, no matter what she said.

"Bones, you know, parenting, it's all about giving up control. I mean, you can try, alright? You can strap them in car seats to keep the safe. You can plug every electrical outlet. You can make sure they eat all the right foods and that they don't have toys with pieces they can choke on. You can buy gates and latches and baby proof everything. You teach them to look both ways when they cross the street. You buy helmets and knee pads and make sure they only have nice kids as friends. You can do everything in this world to keep them out of harm's way and they will still manage to get hurt. And when they do, it kills you. But it happens, no matter what you do. Loving someone means having to accept that fear, that hurt, as part of life. Because, Bones, believe me when I tell you the benefits outweigh the pain."

She was quiet and then "Like being the other half of an FBI agent."

"Yeah. Yeah, I guess so." He glanced quickly at her while she wiped her eyes.

"What if something is wrong? Will I…" her voice was hesitant, unsure. "…will I still be the other half of an FBI agent?"

"Whoa, whoa, whoa! What?" He pulled the car off the road with little regard for other traffic, threw it into park and flipped on the hazard lights so he could really turn and look at her. "What are you talking about?"

"I'm just wondering what you want from me, Booth, if there is no baby holding us together." She sounded stronger now. Resolute. Ready for any answer.

It was an act.

"Is that what you think this is? What we're doing? That we're only together because of the baby?" He was flabbergasted. He could not even fathom she believed that. Her over thinking had been in overdrive

"No. No, not really. I mean ...not entirely. But you have to admit this has all been very intense and rushed. I've just been worrying about what will happen to us if something is wrong. Will we change? I believe I will still want to be _us_, but what will you want?"

Suddenly her attitude made sense to him. She was worried no baby would mean no them. She was preparing for the absolute worst outcome.

"I'm only going to say this one time, Bones, so you listen carefully to me. All I have ever wanted is you. For seven years I waited and wanted and loved you. I've loved you for so long I can't remember not loving you. I don't even know how not to love you. This baby? This baby is the extra cherry on top of the perfect ice cream sundae. It's a bonus, but it's not the whole deal."

"I don't completely know what that means." She smiled through tears.

"It means you can't get rid of me now. No matter what. You are the other half of this FBI Agent for the rest of my life."

"You can't know that."

"The hell I can't."

"You love me?" She said with wonder.

"Yes. Damn straight I love you." He put his hands gently on either side of her face and kissed her sweetly. "I love you. So much. Nothing is going to change that. Okay?" He made sure she was looking into his eyes as he said it. He wanted her to know he meant it.

"Okay." She smiled at him

"Okay." He smiled back at her. "Now, you ready to go hear our baby's heartbeat?" He dropped one hand to hers and brought the other to the steering wheel.

"Yes. I'm very ready to hear our baby's heartbeat."

"Then let's go." He held her hand as he pulled back out into traffic.

It hadn't been so hard to say after all.

_I love and appreciate reviews._


	13. Chapter 13

_Once again, thank you for all your very nice reviews. I am amazed as they continue to roll in along with new alerts. I hope this one lives up to the rest._

**Adjustments-Chapter 13**

"These are some swanky digs your doctor has here, Bones." Booth said quietly as he looked around the opulent waiting area.

"I suppose."

"You suppose? There's a fountain in the waiting room!"

"That's hardly the marker of a good doctor."

"Well making enough money to have an office like this is probably the marker of a good doctor."

"That's true. Plus the Jeffersonian offers very good insurance. Does the FBI have good insurance?"

"I'm a government employee, Bones. It's government insurance."

She looked at him quizzically.

"It's adequate." He clarified. "But, I thought you knew that."

"Why would I know that?"

"All the bills after my tumor."

"What about them?" She looked...guilty.

"Well, I didn't get very many."

"So then your insurance is more than adequate. Your care was quite extensive." She spoke in a hushed tone.

"That's what I mean. I should have gotten more bills. I kind of figured…I kind of figured you'd paid some of them and didn't want to tell me. You know, I figured you were protecting my alpha-male whateverness by not telling me." His volume was equally low.

"I didn't pay them."

"Really?

"No. Maybe your insurance is better than you think."

"No it's not. I'm still paying for Parker's ER bill from last summer."

"The broken arm?"

"Yeah. You'd be amazed at how much one kid can cost."

"I guess we'll put the baby on my insurance then."

"That would probably be good."

He was quiet for a minute. "You don't think Hodgins…"

She found a fascinating spot on the wall to look at. "I'm sure I don't know what you are talking about." She never was good at lying to him.

"I'm thinking that you do."

She couldn't meet his eyes. "No, I don't."

"Bones." He said sternly, "Did Hodgins pay my bills?"

"No. Not…not directly."

She could see him raise his eyebrows in her peripheral vision and she knew he wouldn't let it go. She sighed.

"They'd been wanting some new equipment, an MRI machine, I think, maybe one or two other things. The Cantilever Group was happy to donate it to the hospital."

"In exchange for dropping my bills."

"You were a guest of the Cantilever Group."

"Jeez, Bones, you make it sound like I was staying at the Holiday Inn!"

"Booth, just let it be. He wanted to do it. He feels like he owes you."

"What? Why?"

"The Gravedigger." She answered quietly.

"No. No. I can't let him do that. I gotta make this right."

"How? Hodgins makes more money in a day than you will make in your life. You know he doesn't throw his money around very often but when he does he has good reason to. Please, just leave it alone."

Booth shifted uncomfortably in his chair. He didn't like being indebted to anyone and this new information made him feel…weird. Weird was the only word he could come up with.

"I was going to pay them." She confessed. "But when I called to inquire they told me there were no bills to pay. There wasn't anyone it could have been but Hodgins. I asked him and he told me what he'd done and asked me not to tell you. So I didn't."

"You should have."

"You didn't bring it up until now."

"Because I thought you paid them."

"And that's better somehow than Hodgins?"

"Well, yeah."

"Why? What's the difference?"

"It's just different. I wasn't thrilled with the idea of you paying them either, but I could live with it. This is just…it's just different, okay?"

She shrugged. "Okay."

They both lapsed into contemplative silence.

"Temperance Brennan?" the nurse called out from the door to the back of the offices.

They looked at each other, the hospital bill issue forgotten.

"You ready?" Booth asked.

She nodded nervously. "Ready."

They stood and she spontaneously grabbed his hand, squeezing it. "I'm glad you're here." She whispered fiercely as they walked to the nurse.

"I wouldn't be anywhere else, Bones."

The nurse stopped at the scale and asked Brennan to step on, directing Booth to look away. "It's just not something husbands need to know" she'd said, and so Booth had turned around, noting with surprise that Brennan did not correct the nurse's assumption. He hadn't been about to, either.

The exam room was fairly standard. There was one framed poster on the wall of a woman's reproductive system, another of the development of the fetus in the womb. The exam table ran along one wall, a small desk occupied an opposite corner and there was a chair near the head of the exam table where Booth took his place as Brennan perched on the table.

The nurse had told her she didn't need to undress. A basic exam had been done when she had first suspected her pregnancy and so this would be a very simple appointment. No more exams until the thirty-seventh week, barring any complications. Brennan thanked her and she assured the pair the doctor would be in momentarily.

"Thirty seven weeks seems very far away." She mused aloud.

"It will be the fastest time of your life." countered Booth, remembering how quickly it seemed to fly by with Parker, despite the bad terms he'd been on with Rebecca.

"It will pass with the same amount of hours and days as any other event, Booth. Time is not an unstable variable. It is a constant."

He chuckled. There was the squint speak. He'd known it would show up sooner or later. "Whatever you say, Bones."

There was a knock and the doctor entered "Hello, Temperance. How are things?" Dr. Mitchell gave off an air of confidence and capability.

"Fine, thank you. Dr. Mitchell, this is my partner, S-Seeley Booth." She had nearly said Special Agent, but caught herself in time. He was her partner, she thought warmly, but not in a work capacity. Not right now.

"Good to meet you." said the doctor, unable to shake Booth's hand as she was washing her own. "How have you been feeling, Temperance?"

"Nauseous" she admitted.

"Very normal." The doctor confirmed what they already knew. "Anything else?"

"She's tired." Booth volunteered.

"Booth! I can speak for myself!"

Booth put his hands up in surrender. "Sorry."

"I am quite tired." She admitted.

"Also normal." The doctor reassured her. "That will go away in the second trimester. You'll feel much more energetic then."

She read Brennan's file quickly.

"Everything looks good. What I'm going to do now is have you lay back, I'm going to feel your abdomen, then do some measuring. When I'm finished with that, we'll use the Doppler and listen to your baby's heartbeat. How's that sound?"

"That sounds fine." She settled back onto the exam table, with her head ending up right next to Booth's where he sat.

"Hi." He grinned at her.

She smiled at him in return, but it was shaky and he knew she was still anxious.

"Go ahead and lift your shirt a bit." The doctor instructed and once Brennan did, she proceeded to press a little bit with her hands, then took out a measuring tape and measured what Brennan presumed to be fundal height.

"Good measurements. Are you ready for the fun part?" When Brennan nodded, the doctor produced a small squeeze bottle. "This will be a little bit cold." She squeezed some gel onto Brennan's stomach. "Mr. Booth, do you have a voice memo feature on your phone?" She asked as she pulled forward a small machine.

"Yeah, I do."

"Well, get it out and hit the button. You two will want to have this for posterity."

He did as he was told, then grabbed Brennan's hand as the doctor placed the device on her stomach.

Silence filled the room.

And then, the small, almost whirring sound, of a tiny heartbeat.

"Whoa." Booth was awestruck.

"There you go!" The doctor smiled.

Brennan said nothing. Instead she simply closed her eyes and let out the deepest breath Booth had ever heard. A few tears escaped. Tears of relief.

"That's our baby, Bones. That's our baby!" His voice was filled with joy.

She nodded, completely overwhelmed by her emotions.

Booth just kept listening. "God, that's...that's amazing."

The doctor removed the machine from her belly. "Everything is right as rain" she chirped cheerfully. "Let me get you a tissue to wipe off the gel."

"Wait." Brennan found her voice, though it was wobbly. "Could we… could we, hear it one more time?"

Doctor Mitchell smiled. She's seen a lot of patients and partners come through her doors, but something about these two touched her heart.

"Sure." She said indulgently and put the Doppler back on Brennan's stomach.

There it was again. Their baby's heartbeat. Whir, whir, whir, whir, whir.

Brennan looked at her partner, still holding her hand, filled with emotions she couldn't name.

"Thank you, Booth." she whispered.

He kissed her hairline. "No, Bones. Thank you."

_Reviews are lovely and loved._


	14. Chapter 14

_For real, you guys are blowing me away with all your nice words. I'm not sure how much longer this will go, but I'm having a wonderful time getting there. Thank you all._

**Adjustments-Chapter 14**

She was leaving in three days.

And with every day that passed, his attitude became more and more foul.

Not necessarily at her, because he didn't want to ruin the last few days by being short and pissy with her, but everyone else? They needed to get out of his way and leave him alone.

He really was trying to understand her need to go. He was trying to see that it was, as Sweets said, progress.

He was failing miserably.

He couldn't think of anything else to do to get her to stay, short of begging and he knew that was the wrong way to go about it. He couldn't be dependent on her, too needy would send her running to the airport.

He'd told her he'd loved her. He'd hoped that would be enough to change her mind. Even though she hadn't said it back, he'd been hopeful that she would feel safe and grounded by his own confession.

It wasn't that he thought she didn't love him. On the contrary, little things told him otherwise. Parker's ER bill had suddenly been paid off, she'd stocked his soap and shampoo in her bathroom, bought him a nice razor to keep there, too. One day half her dresser had been rearranged and some of his clothes now had their own space. She had clothes in his closet, he had some in hers. He had a plant on his bookshelf all of a sudden. She feigned interest in hockey games on television and left the sports section of the newspaper on top, by the bowl full of his favorite cereal that awaited him every morning. All he needed to do was add milk. She said it was because she didn't like cereal boxes on the table, he took it as a sign of affection instead. His place or hers didn't matter, the cereal, the paper, the fake interest in hockey; it was all the same.

It was all very domestic and he loved it and he was pretty sure she secretly did too. For someone who claimed to not know how to be in a relationship, he thought she was doing exceptionally well.

Except she was leaving.

He tossed and turned in his bed. He had been asleep. Hey, he's a guy. Good sex always put him to sleep when it was over and with Bones, it wasn't just good, it was great. But she'd gotten out of bed and, as stealthy as she was, his Ranger training didn't allow for sleep so deep he didn't feel her leave his side.

He could see a small crack of light under the door and he imagined he could hear the hum of her laptop, though really it was more likely he just knew her well enough to know she was probably using her laptop. She was probably making lists. Lists of things to do, lists of things to pack, lists of work projects to be completed, lists of things to delegate at work, lists of people to call, errands to run, emails to send. Her lists were not normal people lists, with one long column of crap to do. No, her lists were more complex, broken down into categories and sub categories and thoughts and tasks. He'd once teased her that her lists took longer to write than to accomplish what was actually on them. She had, of course, disagreed, saying it always saves time to be organized.

He stopped tossing and turning and trying to turn off his brain. It wasn't going to happen. He thought maybe Bones' inability to not think was rubbing off on him because he just couldn't shut it off anymore.

Three days. Three days. Three days.

He'd lost it on Sweets about something stupid that morning in therapy and the kid had immediately known he wasn't yelling about what he was pretending to be yelling about.

"When does she leave?" He'd asked.

"Tuesday." It had been four days still, right then.

"She'll be back. She always comes back." He wasn't being shrinky, rather he was being a friend, but Booth was too moody to be nice in return.

"I didn't say she wouldn't." He'd snapped and Sweets had quickly realized they weren't going to get anywhere that day and ended the session.

Booth sighed as he realized he probably owed Sweets an apology, but decided he wasn't in the mood to do that, either.

He looked at the clock. 2:13am. He'd give her fifteen more minutes before he went and fished her out from behind her laptop and made her get some sleep. She'd work her way through the night sometimes and that wasn't good for her or the baby as far as he was concerned and as long as he could still do something about it, he would.

Then he heard something.

Voices.

Could she be talking to someone at this hour? No, that wasn't it.

He listened carefully, fully engaged now. Was someone in the apartment? He could hear distinctive tones, different voices. He slipped silently out of bed and crept to the door, every instinct he had on high alert. Noiselessly, he cracked open the door.

Her back was to him and her laptop was indeed on, an abandoned document on the screen. Then he heard the voices again.

"_Whoa." _

"_There's your baby." _

"_That's our baby, Bones. That's our baby!" _

"_God, that's amazing."_

"_Everything is right as rain. Let me get you a tissue to wipe off the gel."_

"_Wait. Could we… could we hear it one more time?"_

"_Sure." _

"_Thank you, Booth." _

"_No, Bones. Thank you."_

She played it again.

And then again.

He stood there, frozen. Half of him wanted to join her on the couch, take her in his arms and listen with her, marveling at the miracle they'd created. (He wouldn't think about how she didn't believe in miracles, because he did and that's what all of this was, really. At least, to him.) The other half of him wanted to creep back to bed and let her have this moment to herself, because it was clearly something she was taking in and processing in some way.

"Did I wake you?" He would no longer get to make the choice. She had turned and found him standing there.

"No. I was up." He smiled softly.

"I was just listening." She held up his phone and waved it a little.

"It's pretty amazing, isn't it? I've listened to it a few times myself."

"No, that's…I mean, yes. It is. But that's not…" She moved her computer and he sat down beside her. "You love me." Her voice was sweetly accusatory, as if he'd somehow gently offended her sensibilities.

"Yeah. I really do." He was well behind her train of thought, but that certainly wasn't anything he wasn't used to.

"And you love our baby."

"Yes, of course."

"And you're glad about everything, even though it wasn't planned and it's not how you dreamed your life would be." She was telling him what she already knew, not asking him for confirmation.

"Yes. I am happy about everything. More than I can say."

"But not about California."

She had him there and he wasn't about to lie about it. "No. I'm not at all happy about California."

She nodded. "You've been very good about it, though. I appreciate that."

"Yeah, well, you know, Bones, the thing is, I always want to give you what you want, alright? Even when I don't like it very much."

"You yelled at Sweets today."

"Well, he was irritating me."

"He thinks I am irritating you."

"He said that?" The kid was definitely not getting an apology now.

"Well, to be precise, he said my going to California is irritating you."

He had nothing to say about that.

"He didn't try to talk me out of it, or anything. It was just an observation." She looked over at him.

"When did you see Sweets?"

"I stopped by his office this afternoon."

"He shouldn't have mentioned it."

"But he did."

"Well, he _shouldn't_ have."

"But he _did_."

Silence for a while. And then:

"I'm going to be someone's mother." She was awed by the prospect, he could tell.

"Yeah. You are." He smiled at her wonderment.

"And you love me." She confirmed again.

"Yes I do."

"And we're going to be a family. You and me and Parker and our baby."

His throat caught at her inclusion of his son. The capacity of her heart never failed to amaze him. "We're going to be an awesome little family, Bones."

She absently played with the phone in her hands.

"I don't think I want to go to California anymore."

He couldn't breathe. Or speak. Or move.

"I never signed the contract. I'm not going."

"Wha…."

"Fight or flight."

"Fight or flight?"

"Yes. Everyone has a fight or flight response system. You always choose fight. It's who you are. I always choose flight."

"That's not true."

"When it comes to us, it is true. I was going to do it again to California, except…"

"Except?"

"I don't want to. For once, fighting, staying, seems more prudent than running."

"Prudent. Wow, Bones, don't get all romantic on me, here." He teased, but he was so, so thankful for what she was saying.

She smiled. "Okay. How about this then? I don't want to go because I'd rather be here with you. I don't know when I became this woman who doesn't want to be without the man she loves, but I have. And I'm choosing not to run from it. I'm choosing to stay, to embrace what we are now instead of running away and rationalizing it to death. I'm choosing to fight, here, with you."

"You love me." He had to be sure he'd heard her correctly.

"Yes. Very much."

"You're really staying?"

She pointed at the laptop screen. "That is my letter explaining the situation to the head of the Anthropology Department at Berkley, along with several suggestions for who could take my place."

"They aren't going to be happy with you." Not that he cared.

"What you think of me matters to me much more than what they think of me."

"What I think of you, Temperance Brennan, can't even be put into words."

She leaned in towards him and whispered "Care to try to show me instead?"

"Always." He vowed before kissing her soundly and leading her back to bed.

_Reviews are my favorite thing._


	15. Chapter 15

_Fluffy fluff ahead. I thought our favorite couple needed an angst break. I think we are about done. I have one other thing I want to do after this and then maybe one or two "reveal" chapters and I think the ride will be over for now. Thanks again for all your support. Over 300 reviews is amazing to me! I hope this one is to your liking as well._

**Adjustments-Chapter 15**

"I'm thinking about a home birth. Maybe in water." She threw out in the car on their way to the Jeffersonian one morning.

"What? Why? I thought you liked Dr. Mitchell." She sure did know how to distract him from driving.

"I do. But you know, anthropologically speaking…"

"Oh, here we go."

"What?"

"Anthropologically speaking talk. You are going to list for me all the ways women have been having babies at home for years."

"Yes. In many countries they still do. Hospital stays and medical care can be very invasive. A home water birth seems more peaceful and natural."

"I don't think it's safe."

"You don't even know anything about it. You are rejecting it without any facts."

"Here's a fact: things go wrong in childbirth, okay? I'm not comfortable having the woman I love and my baby in any unsafe situation."

"Hospitals can be unsafe. In fact, studies have shown that sometimes they are less safe due to doctor error, under staffing, infection…"

"Bones, please."

"I don't see what the big deal is, Booth. There are places in this world where a woman will work in the field, squat down, have a baby and then keep working."

"Well, we don't live in any of those places."

"No, we don't. It's not like I'm going to have the baby in the lab and then go back to assessing a murder victim. Although, there is that really nice hydro tank…"

"Whoa! No way! No birth in the lab!"

"Of course not. It would be very disruptive to the lab."

"Yeah. The disruption in the lab is why we won't have our baby there."

"Are you being sarcastic?"

"Listen, Bones, did I ever tell you about Rebecca's experience with Parker?"

"No." She looked at him warily. "But you are prone to exaggeration so I'm not sure I can take your story at face value."

"I don't exaggerate."

"Really? Because I never have seen that coin with your face on it."

"Do you remember everything I say?"

"Mostly. I try to forget the less important stuff."

"Look, Rebecca and I were on really bad terms. I wasn't allowed in the room when Parker was born, not for any of it. I missed the whole damn thing. But a nice nurse took pity on me and let me wait in the hall outside her door instead of in the waiting room around the corner."

"You mean the pretty nurse thought you were good looking so she let you break the rules."

"I never said she was pretty."

"You charm smiled her and she let you stand in the hall."

"Okay, that is not the point of the story."

"Well, what is the point?"

"So I'm standing there in the hall and the door to the room is open, but there's a curtain so I can't see. All I can do is listen. I can hear the machines and the nurse every now and then. And then I see the doctor go in and I know it's getting close. I hear him tell Rebecca to push. And then again he tells her to push. And then, something went wrong. All the machines started making sounds and I hear Rebecca's mother say 'Oh my God' and all these doctors and nurses go running in there and they closed the door."

She was listening with rapt attention.

"I had no idea what was happening. Was the baby okay? Was Rebecca? Then the door to the room flew open and they were wheeling her somewhere. She was out, Bones. Unconscious, out. And all I could do was stand there in that damn hallway and watch them go."

He looked at her as pulled into her assigned space in the parking garage. "Then her mom walked out and told me something went wrong and they were doing a C-section and that we had to wait. So we did."

"What happened?" She made no move to exit the SUV.

"You know, I'm still not really sure. It was bad, whatever it was. Her mom never liked me but she just held my hand and cried. Two hours later I was holding Parker and Rebecca was on the mend. I never knew if it was her or Parker in danger. Or both."

"You never asked?"

"No. By the time I could ask they were both going to be fine. That was all that mattered. I still had my little boy and he still had his mother."

"I'm not going to make you stand in the hall, Booth."

"I know that. And you know that's not the point."

"Most births are very routine. Rebecca's experience is not the norm."

"I know that too. But it's the 'what ifs' that will keep me awake at night, Bones."

"That's irrational."

"And still it's true."

"Maybe I should do some more research."

"Research is good."

"You aren't going to change your mind, are you?" She already knew the answer.

"Probably not." He admitted.

"It's not just your decision, though. I should have more say than you. It's my body."

"But it's our baby. And you're mine, too."

"I'm not a piece of furniture, Booth."

"And I am not going to have this conversation when I know that you know what I mean."

"Fine. But we're not done talking about this."

"I didn't for one second think that we were." He said cheerfully. It would never be that easy, he knew.

"Maybe I should speak to Angela more in depth about childbirth."

"Yeah! She might have some insight for you."

"Of course, that would mean we would actually have to tell her about the baby."

"Yes, it would."

"Are you ready to do that? I am ten weeks now and we've heard the heartbeat. Statistically, everything will most likely be fine and it should be safe to tell everyone."

"Yeah. I think we can tell now."

"Yeah?" Her whole face lit up.

"Sure. Maybe we could have everyone over for dinner one night."

"That might be fun, although they might become suspicious."

"You think?"

"It would certainly have been more surprising if they'd not ever even known we were together in the first place."

"Well, you kind of blew that out of the water." He grinned.

"You helped." She pointed out.

"Want me to walk you inside and help you show them all over again?" He waggled his eyebrows suggestively at her, knowing full well very public displays of affection were really not her thing.

She rolled her eyes and smiled an indulgent smile. "Go to work!" She leaned over and gave him a small kiss before she got out of the car.

_If you accept this fluffy chapter, then I will accept fluffy reviews. ;)_


	16. Chapter 16

_How about a little something different for this chapter? Thank you again for the nice reviews. _

**Adjustments-Chapter 16**

It had been a very, very long week. Camille Saroyan was tired and looking forward to drinks out with her friends.

"Hey Cam." Angela sidled up next to her on the balcony overlooking the entire lab.

"You're early!"

"Yeah, well, the sitter was on time, so we practically ran out the door." Angela was really looking excited for a night of adult conversation.

Hodgins took up residence in one of the chairs on the balcony. "Who are we waiting for?"

"Not me." Sweets announced his arrival and perched himself against a wall.

"Just Booth and Brennan, then." surmised Cam.

"Where are they?" Angela was really eager to get her night out started.

"I think Booth was coming from the Hoover and Brennan did a guest lecture at Georgetown today." Cam checked her watch. "They aren't late. We're just all early."

They spied Brennan coming into the lab just a few minutes later. She ran her card through the security machine and went up the platform, then on to her office. Clearly lost in thought, she never even looked up at her colleagues.

Angela chuckled. "She doesn't even know we're up here. I'll go get her."

"Oh, there's Booth! He'll get her." Cam waved her arm but Booth didn't notice and Cam immediately knew why.

He only had eyes for one particular forensic anthropologist.

Brennan emerged from her office to greet him and the look on his face was enough to melt the hearts of both women watching.

"God, look at how he looks at her." murmured Angela.

"He's always looked at her like that." Cam pointed out.

"No, this is more than that. Maybe it's because he doesn't have to hide it anymore. It's almost…worshipful."

"You know, psychologically…"

"Don't wanna hear it Dr. Sweets." Cam scolded. "After all these years, just let them be happy."

"Oh, they are." snorted Sweets. "Trust me."

"I don't have to trust you. It's obvious. Look at them." Angela watched as her best friend was kissed thoroughly by her partner. "She smiles at him like he hung the moon."

"Are we ready to go? I could use some food." Hodgins was no less eager for a night out than his wife, but far less interested in dissecting his friends' relationship.

"In a minute!" Angela shushed him, never taking her eyes off the two people below. "Everyone should have someone who looks at them like that. It's magical." She whispered wistfully, as Booth took Brennan's hand and spun her around slowly, almost like he was dancing with her. Almost like he hadn't seen her all day and needed to see every bit if her to believe she was really in front of him.

"Hodgins looks at you like that." confirmed Cam.

"Ya think?"

"Oh yeah."

The two people downstairs were totally unaware of their audience. Booth spun her around again and then took her in his arms.

"I really have to disagree, Bones. You don't look pregnant at all." He whispered into her ear.

"Really?" She leaned back in his embrace and smiled at him. "I felt quite round today."

"Round?" He chuckled.

"Yes." She answered. "It sounds silly, but I felt round. Or at least, more rounded."

"Let me look again." He took a step back. "Well…" He looked critically, then put one hand adoringly to her abdomen. "…maybe a little."

She swatted his hand off of her, smiling.

Upstairs the pathologist and the artist gasped.

"Did you just see that?" asked Cam, her eyes wide.

"Did you?" Angela was stunned.

"Yes! That's why I asked you if you saw it!"

"Oh, I saw it." Teary eyed, she whirled around. "You!" She pointed at Sweets and his eyes bugged out of his head. "What do you know?"

"What? I…I don't know anything." Sweets swallowed hard.

"Oh, you know something. I know you do. Fess up."

"You'd better just tell her, man. There is no reasoning with her when she gets that look on her face." Hodgins had no idea what was going on, but frightened Sweets at the mercy of demanding Angela was very entertaining.

"Even if I did know something, which I don't, doctor patient privilege prevents me from saying anything." Sweets defended himself.

"So it's true!"

"What's true?" Now Hodgins wanted to know too.

"Dr. Sweets?" Cam had one intimidating eyebrow raised.

"I'm sorry. My hands are tied." But his grin was much more revealing than his words.

"Oh my God." Angela was beside herself and turned back to look at her favorite couple as Brennan swatted Booth's hand away from her stomach again and he laughed at something she said.

"What?" Now Hodgins was annoyed. He did not appreciate being the only one out of the loop.

"No way." Cam's smile could not have been bigger.

"I know!" Angela had her hands clasped together over her heart.

"It's really just about all he's ever wanted." Cam was only slightly less choked up than Angela.

"Do you think it's really true?" Angela had a dreamy quality to her voice.

"Is _what_ true?" Hodgins was being thoroughly ignored by his wife and his boss. "What are you all talking about?" He looked to Sweets, but the young doctor simply shoved his hands in his pockets and looked away. "Oh, come on!" huffed Hodgins and he got out of his chair and stalked off.

No one cared that he left. The two women were still watching the couple down below and the psychologist was wondering if Booth would believe him when he said he hadn't told.

"So how are we going to do this, Booth? Just, let everyone get their drinks and then say 'Oh, hey, by the way, we're having a baby?'" Brennan was having a difficult time imagining how to break the news.

"We could make a toast." He suggested. "Say something nice about friends and how important they are and, ya know, slip it in there somewhere."

"HEY!_" _They both looked up to find a really irritated looking Hodgins striding towards them.

"Hodgins! Is something wrong?" Brennan was concerned by the entomologist's scowl.

"Well, nothing except that I'm ready for a night out for the first time in months, but my wife and our boss and the shrink are all up there fawning over the two of you."

For the first time, Booth and Brennan looked up.

"So can you just tell them if whatever they are wondering about is true or not so we can go? I'm starving." Brennan couldn't be sure, but she thought there was a hint of amusement in his eyes.

Booth looked at the artist and the pathologist, one with her hands over her heart and a wishful, hopeful look and the other with a smile as big as the one on his face.

"Well, I guess that cat's out of the bag too, then." He told Brennan.

"There's a cat in the lab?"

"WHAT'S THE CAT?" Hodgins was still waiting to have things spelled out for him.

"I mean, the secret's out."

"Yes. It would seem so. It's your fault this time." She wasn't angry, though. Not in the least.

"Hello?" Hodgins was starting to think he was invisible.

"I guess Hodgins is the only one left." Booth said.

"Do you want to tell him, or shall I?"

"You can, if you want."

"I don't mind if you want to."

"Would someone just tell me?" He was all out of patience. He was really hungry.

"I'm pregnant." She smiled at her friend and Booth hollered up. "YES! IT'S TRUE!" And gave them both a thumbs up. Angela squealed and Cam just beamed. Sweets smiled like a fool.

"Oh." said Hodgins.

"Oh? That's all you can say is 'Oh'!" Booth was a little offended.

"Well, I knew that already." said Hodgins.

"What?" "How?" Brennan and Booth asked in unison.

Hodgins shrugged. "I'm a scientist. I notice little things. Form a hypothesis, collect the evidence, prove your hypothesis. You two aren't as clever as you think." He _was _amused, Brennan knew now for sure.

"What? I was very good about being secretive." Brennan asserted.

"Yeah. Twenty trips a day to the bathroom daily and that sort of pukey look you'd get for a few hours every day was a give away if anyone was paying attention, which I was." He broke out into a grin that matched his wife's. "Congratulations you two. Let's eat!" He kissed Brennan's cheek, clapped his hand on Booth's shoulder and walked down the stairs.

Hours later, in Booth's bed, fingers entwined, Booth asked Brennan if she was sorry they hadn't gotten to actually announce it and take their friends by surprise.

"No." She said after thinking about it. "I'm just happy they're happy for us."

"Why wouldn't they be? They're our friends."

"I had some trepidation." She admitted. "I shouldn't care what others think, but it was important to me that we have their support."

"We do. I think Angela is probably still crying."

"Yes. She was truly happy."

"Yeah, she was. They all were."

"You told me once that there are different kinds of families. I felt like I had no family and you told me there were all different kinds. Do you remember that?"

"I remember."

"Our friends…they are an amazing family to us."

"Yes they are. We're lucky that way."

"I never used to believe in luck."

"And now?"

"I find I am more open to the concept."

"That's good, Bones. Give up some of that squinty control to luck and fate."

"I still don't believe in fate, Booth. But I do think we're lucky, aren't we?"

"In lots of ways, Bones. In lots of ways."

_Reviews are much appreciated. Thank you!_


	17. Chapter 17

_This is it, folks. It ends here. I don't want to write so far into the future that my story becomes obsolete once HH and crew begin season 7. This chapter may dip into that territory, but I had to go there to give it the end I felt it needed. _

_There are so, so many of you I would like to thank personally. Coming to the front of my mind is _**jsq**_ for telling me to go with a multi-chap and people would like it. Thanks! Also to _**sunsetdreamer** _for writing me the funniest reviews and really making me feel good about what I post every time and to _**Alexsmom**_ and _**Mimssio**_ and _**wazo29**_, who have reviewed every single thing I have ever written, and never fail to make me feel all glowy. A special recognition to _**Ink Quillz**_, who made me feel like a rock star with one simple review and to _**Athena2079**_, who registered here for the first time EVER to tell me she liked my story. Now that is high praise. Thank you! There were many, many more of you wonderful readers/reviewers and I treasure everything you wrote. Thank you, thank you, thank you._

_For all of you who alerted this story, thank you as well. Knowing how many of you were interested in what came next helped me pump each chapter out as fast as the quality I was aiming for would allow._

_And now on with the show_.

**Adjustments-Chapter 17**

"Booth? Do you have my black pumps over there?" It was eight at night and he was gathering things to head to her place.

"What is a black pump?" He cradled the phone between his shoulder and his ear while he grabbed a t-shirt and some running shorts.

"Heels. Black heels. I was trying to figure out what to wear tomorrow and I can't find them. I thought maybe I'd left them there."

"Uh…" he did a quick spin around the room. "I don't see them. Maybe by the door. Lemme walk in there."

"I'm not sure how I left there without my shoes, though." Brennan mused while he looked.

"Oh, _these_ shoes." He grinned when he saw then next to the couch. The heels on them were obscene…just the way he liked them. "Yep, I got 'em."

"Can you bring them with you?"

"Will do."

"Are you on your way?"

"In about ten minutes."

"I'll order the food. It always takes twenty minutes for pick up."

"See you in a few."

"Bye."

This was not an uncommon conversation and happened a few times a week. A lost shirt, misplaced socks or a mislaid tie were standard problems for them.

They were, Booth reflected, problems he was happy to have.

Brennan's wardrobe was getting smaller as she got bigger. She was still only fifteen weeks, but button up shirts were not buttoning well and waistbands started the day fitting just a bit snugly but by the evenings they were far too tight. She had resisted going maternity clothes shopping so far, so the few outfits she was still managing to pull together needed to be planned out in advance to make sure all the pieces were wherever she was when she dressed in the morning.

He was standing at her door twenty-five minutes later, hands full of food, shoes and duffel bag. He knocked with his foot.

She opened the door and retrieved the shoes dangling from two of his fingers and the take out bag from his other hand.

"I'm starving." she announced and started dishing out the food while he put the contents of his bag in his part of the dresser. "I'm feel like I'm making up for all the food I couldn't eat before." She sneaked small bites from the containers when she opened them.

He emerged from the bedroom and stopped short.

"Damn." he muttered. He was struck, not for the first time, by how completely beautiful she was and how completely he loved her. The small rounding of her belly had begun. Her cheeks were a bit fuller, her hair a bit thicker and there was a slight shift in the way she carried herself that he doubted anyone could see but him. After years of watching her, he knew her so well and these small changes were awe inspiring.

He came up behind her, wrapped his arms around her from the back and kissed her cheek.

"What do you want, Booth?" She knew it wasn't nice the second she said it.

"Nothing. I'm just…I'm just happy. Is that okay with you?" He let go of her, a little hurt, but tried not to let on.

She turned to look at him. "I'm sorry. I've had a lot on my mind today."

"Everything okay?"

"Yes. I think so. I….I do have something I would like to discuss with you, though."

For some reason her words made him incredibly nervous and he felt like his blood froze in his veins for a moment.

"Sure Bones, but can we talk and eat? I thought you were hungry." His appetite had gone out the window but she still needed to get some sustenance in her.

"I am." She put both plates on the table. "Beer?" She asked, grabbing water for herself.

"I got it." He went to the fridge, trying to cover up the sinking feeling he had in his stomach. He tried to get a grip. He tried to tell himself that if she were suddenly unhappy with things she wouldn't have him staying there with her for the night. But with Bones he sometimes felt like he was waiting for that other shoe to drop and he suddenly realized that was no way to live. No way to love, really.

They ate in silence, she was clearly lost in thought and, if she'd noticed, he was clearly lost in fear.

He broke the silence.

"Bones?"

"Right, okay." She put down her fork and fussed with her napkin and he could tell she was terribly unsettled. "I've been doing a lot of thinking."

"You always do a lot of thinking." He tried to joke, lighten the mood, anything to make what she was about to say more bearable, because he could tell whatever it was it was going to rock the boat they'd been sailing on. He cursed himself silently for believing it could be as easy as it had been lately.

"That's true. But this has been weighing on me. I've been collecting evidence and weighing the facts. It's how I do things."

"I know that. What are you collecting evidence and facts about?"

"Us."

His heart stopped, he was sure.

"What about us?" He tried to make it more than a scared whisper, but he wasn't sure he succeeded.

She forged on. "I'm not always very good at being in a relationship. I don't just mean what we're doing here, but any relationship. Father and daughter, brother and sister, friend and friend…I struggle. Because for the most part, I've always been alone."

"You are a wonderful partner in every way. You never failed me, Bones. Not once." He truly meant it.

"I did fail you, Booth. On the steps of the Hoover. I failed you."

He couldn't believe she thought that. "No, no, Bones, you didn't." His desire to comfort and reassure outweighed his trepidation at where she was going with this conversation. Comfort and reassurance for her had always outweighed everything. "I pushed. I knew you weren't there yet. I got caught up in the moment. I let Sweets…" He trailed off and then "But it doesn't matter now. We've gotten so far past that, haven't we?"

"Do you still want thirty or forty or fifty years?" She asked.

"With you? Yes."

" I can't guarantee I can give you that."

There it was. And he would fight fire with fire.

"I didn't ask you to. I have only ever asked for one day at a time, Bones."

"I know. You've been very good to me." Her voice shook. "You have told me I have you for the rest of your life, but I haven't been able to say it back."

"But you said that you love me. That's enough for me, Bones, it really is."

"It's not, though. I can't promise you what you promise me. It's not fair, but it's the way it is."

"But we owe to ourselves to try. Day by day, we can make this work." He probably sounded like he was begging, but he didn't care.

"What we're doing here is not enough for you and I recognize that. In the end, it won't be enough."

"Bones…"

"So I think you should move in with me." Now she looked in his eyes, fearful and ready for his response.

He stared at her in dumbfounded silence.

"Unless you don't want to." She was flustered by his silence. "I mean, I know it's not the same as forty years, but it's the best I can do right now."

"Bones…"

"I'm sorry I can't do more. It's all I can offer at the moment. I'm sorry I can't promise…"

He shut her up by rounding the table like lightening and kissing her like crazy.

"I thought…" she tried to speak between kisses. "I thought we could…" He just kept stopping her with his lips. "Booth!"

"What?" He was grinning the most ridiculous grin.

"Don't you want to talk about the logistics?"

"No."

"No?"

"Bones, I would live in a tent in the woods if it meant living with you."

"That would be highly impractical."

"I don't think I'd care."

"You'd care when it snowed."

"You could keep me warm." He leered suggestively.

"I would like to talk logistics." She said, trying to keep her wits about her while his lips began to lay claim to her neck.

"Okay. Fine. Logistics." He stopped, knowing this was a ridiculously huge "give" for her and that she'd need to explain her thoughts and plans out loud. "Tell me."

"Well, Mrs. Culver next door is moving."

"The little old lady?"

"Yes. She's retiring to Florida. This place isn't quite large enough to accommodate us all."

"You want to move into Mrs. Culver's place?"

"No. No. I want to buy it and knock down some walls."

"Wait, what? It's an apartment building."

"It's a condo."

"You own this place?"

"Yes."

"Oh." He hadn't realized she didn't pay rent like he did.

"I just think, the way it is now, I only have one extra bedroom and we need at least two, one for the baby and one for Parker. And I'd like to have an office. If we knock out the wall between the two then we can open the space and double the size."

"Will the building let you do that?"

"Well yes." She responded. "I own the building as well."

He had to laugh. "Of course you do."

"Why is that funny? My people said it was a good investment. I have found that to be true."

"It just…you will never not surprise me, Bones."

"How am I surprising?"

"You just are. In a very, very good way."

"Is…" she swallowed. "Is this a good plan? I thought you might like it. We could meet with a contractor. I think, if we hurry, we could get it done before the baby arrives."

He looked at her, his heart happier than he had ever known possible. "I think it's the best idea you have ever had."

"Are you sure?" She smirked, teasingly. "I've had some very good ideas."

"I am absolutely sure. This is the best idea anyone has ever had anywhere, anytime, ever."

"So," she smiled hesitantly "we'll live together."

"I swear I'm never going back to my place again."

"Don't be silly. You have to pack."

"My girlfriend is rich. I'll buy new stuff." He was starting in on her neck again.

"Booth!"

"What?" He took a break and looked at her in earnest.

"I love you." She smiled at him. She'd never said it just like that before and it felt so right rolling off her tongue.

"I love you too, Bones. More than I can say."

"I believe you were about to show me just how much."

"I can do that. I can definitely do that."

And he did.

And so did she.

_Please leave one final review for me. Thank you for reading!_


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